Jonah 2:[1] Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly,
[2]
And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he
heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.
[3]
For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the
floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over
me.
[4] Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.
[5] The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.
[6]
I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars
was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption,
O LORD my God.
[7] When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.
[8] They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.
[9] But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.
[10] And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.
I am so thankful for second chances.
And third chances. And fourth. And fifth.
Let's face it…God's mercy will allow us to begin "again" – over and over again. He will never deny a repentant heart His forgiveness and strength to start over in obedience.
While Jonah's disobedience was SO blatant, (God said, "Go to Nineveh, " and Jonah hopped on board a ship going in the exact opposite direction!), often our own disobedience is not so clear to us.
There have been times that I moved forward in disobedience to God and didn't even realize it. It may have been weeks or months later that the slow realization began to dawn on me: "The Lord does not want me involved in this."
Sometimes, I think, I have spiritual ADD or ADHD! I just don't pay attention. I don't listen carefully. I don't catch the subtle messages that my Heavenly Father is graciously giving me; and that's all because I am so busy, busy, busy…being busy, thinking busy thoughts, reading everything but His Word, listening to all other advice rather than seeking His, trying so hard to take care of things in my own power.
Those are the times – when my disobedience finally comes to my attention – that I am SO SO thankful for second chances.
He allows me to step away from my sin, He lets me see what He would have me to do instead, and then – miracle of miracles – He gives His divine aid to my efforts of obedience. He blesses me abundantly when I finally begin to be do what He wants me to do.
How He can be so loving to me is something I don't understand, but I pray that my gratitude for it colors every minute of every hour of my every day.
I don't ever want to get used to God's forgiveness and His eternally-offered "second" chances.
How about you? Has the Lord ever gifted you with a second chance? I'd love to hear about it! You can leave a comment by clicking the word "comment" below. It will open up a comment box for you to write in. š
In Him,
Alesha
Obtaining Mercy 