{NOT A GOD OF SECOND CHANCES}

I prayed softball in junior high and high school. Yes, you read that right. As a defensive player I would stand out in right field and PRAY no one would hit the ball to me. Instead of chanting “hey batterbatter”, my mantra was “pleeeeaseplease God.” On offense I displayed legendary prowess by strategically scrunching my body into Lilliputian proportions to hide the strike zone. Sometimes I got hit by the ball.Yes! First base here I come. And running the bases? I run like a penguin. Enough said.

Every time I got a second or third or fourth chance to not embarrass myself, I blew it. When it was my turn I would pray with all my might.

‘Please God, help me not suck. Help me not to bruise too badly this time.’

Every once in a while I would take the chance, close my eyes, and swing. But most ‘ups’ I just hunkered down and hoped for the best. Seriously, the best thing about softball for me was the sunflower seeds. And I won’t even discuss my adventures in volleyball.

Last week I was talking to my daughter. After a challenging few months, God is sending her on a great adventure. I asked if she was excited, and there was silence for a moment before she answered.

“I just feel like God is giving me a second chance. I don’t want to mess it up.”

Ugh. Her words bounced around in my head for a few days, nagging at me. Honestly, I tried to ignore them and move on. But something about that didn’t feel right to me. Second chances are good, right? I’ve heard “God is a God of second chances” more than once. How can a second chance be a bad thing? In sports, in writing, in cooking (just ask my family about this one sometime) second chances give us an opportunity to improve.

But here’s the thing: 

Second chances aren’t meant to be a lifestyle.

Need an example? Can I be honest with you? (Ok, deep breath.) The truth is, I’ve been struggling with my weight for years. Decades, actually. It’s one of those ‘strongholds’ in my life. It’s not a bad thyroid, trauma from my childhood or an unusually slow metabolism. Every day I make choices that keep me this way, and every night I’m miserable. When I find a new diet or promising exercise program, or a cool event like the Fearless and Fit Retreat, I say to myself,

“I just feel like God is giving me a second chance. I don’t want to mess it up.”

Listen up people, here’s the deal. I carry my “first chances” around with me every day. Every pound, every flabby part of me is a reminder of my past failures and disappointment in myself. I realize many strongholds are not as obvious to the world as overeating, but we all can carry the weight of our past ‘chances’.

God did not intend for us to live Second Chance lives.

When we view something as a second chance, we are reminded that there was a first chance. A first failure. A first disaster. We are branded, labeled, weak, rejected.

So think for a minute now; how do you think God views it? Here’s a clue:

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” –Is 43: 18-19

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here.” 

-2 Corinthians 5:17

Get it? God doesn’t see second chances. He sees new things. My past is part of who I am, but I don’t have to carry it around with me forever. Either do you.

So let’s do this together. Are you with me? Here’s what we will do.

1. Identify that first chance thing in our lives.
2. Sift it. Pick out the good seeds. Identify what we’ve learned.
3. Banish that ugly first chance. Throw it out. Draw a line straight down the middle of today and refuse to let that first chancecross over into the future.

We will banish it, with the help of a strong God who removes it from us as far as the East is from the West. We will banish it, with the help of a mighty God who makes all things new. We will banish it, where it will stay in the early chapters of our lives as a testimony of God’s great mercy and grace and his lavish love for us. We will embrace the entire story of our lives, even the ugly parts, and today will be a new thing.

You were made for this kind of living. So get out there. See it like God sees it. It’s not a second chance. It’s a new thing. Open your eyes and swing with all your might. You’re not alone. You were made for this kind of living. So live it.

Meet The Author...

Jenna has been married to her Prom date for 23 years. Her 4 kids are all grown up and now she's finding more time than ever to chase her dream of being a writer. Although she's blessed with a successful career, her passion for 15 years has been volunteering with teens and young adults as a youth worker and small group leader. Her goal in life is to love God and love others. She's gearing up to start a new blog about her weight loss journey, but you can check out her current blog at http://terriblysweet.blogspot.com

 

My adulterous heart....

Last week I talked to a group of women about what it would look like to let Jesus define who we are... instead of listening to the lies and letting our pasts, our jobs, our possessions or even our sin define us. It sounds so simple... just say yes to God... but the moment I set my mind the that I feel like the enemy amps up his attacks on me and turns up the volume on the lies he was once just whispering in my ear

In John 8 there's a story of an adulterous woman...

"Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd.


'Teacher,' they said to Jesus, 'this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?'


They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, 'All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!' Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.


When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, 'Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?'


'No, Lord,' she said.


And Jesus said, 'Neither do I. Go and sin no more.'"

I kind of identify with this adulterous woman. Don't get your panties in a bunch... I love my hubby... but if I'm honest I have to admit, I’m an adulterer in my relationship with God far too often.  I try to draw strength and comfort from so many things other than him. I turn to my husband or to my mom or friends or anything really, but the one person who can truly make things better. I turn to everything else before I remember that all I have to do is say YES... all I have to do is listen to his voice OVER the voice of the greatest of accusers. I have to rely on his love and grace, POWER and mercy... then he lifts me up dusts me off and says GO...

He told the woman to go and sin no more… but what I heard was Go… and let me define who you are….