What I’d like you to grasp actually occurs in chapter 3, verse 1: Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.” Did you get that? A second time! God said He’d even give Jonah the words to say. All Jonah needed to do was to go where God said to go and say what God said to say. After all that Jonah had done, God gave him another opportunity. All of us at some time or another have needed to start over again, for all kinds of reasons. Even when we have the best intentions, sometimes we just mess things up. We can make life so difficult because we say we want God’s will, but we really want to do it our own way. Thank God that He is the Potter at the wheel. Lord knows, we need Him to reshape us and rebuild us on a daily basis! God gives us second, third, fourth chances, and so many more.
Have you ever felt like you’re not even qualified to serve God because you’ve made so many mistakes in the past? (And the past may be just yesterday.) Guess what? The Lord uses mistakes too. When we miss the mark, and at some point we all will, His grace and mercy are already there to dust us off and get us back on track.
Maybe you’ve wondered why God gives you so many chances. Well, let me share a few reasons with you. First of all, God gives you second chances because He is God and He is good. It is in His nature to love you. He gives you second chances because He knows that you need them. God knows who you are. He knows you fall short, but He’s not looking for you to be perfect; He’s looking for you to be available. And it’s important to know that He wants you to be available with a willing heart and the right attitude, because it’s possible to do the right thing with the wrong attitude. (And I’ll be honest, that is a huge check for me in my own home sometimes.) God also gives you second chances in order to bless other people. He blessed an entire city through Jonah. And then Jonah got an attitude with God for forgiving them! He was like, “God I knew You were going to forgive them. That’s why I didn’t want to even say anything to them in the first place.” He had the audacity to decide that they were not worthy of a second chance after he’d been given one. Isn’t that like us sometimes?
The Manna Chef 