A God of Second Chances
Prayer
Ps 15 Lord who may dwell in your sanctuary, Who may live on your Holy hill,
He whose walk is blameless, does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart, has no slander on his tongue who does his neighbour no wrong , who casts no slur on his fellow man but honours those who fear the Lord, who keeps his oath even when it hurts
He who does these things will never be shaken.
So Lord we come the Rock the Rock of our salvation for you Lord are a shield around us o glorious One who lifts our head- to you we cry aloud and you answer from your holy hill……………..
Amen
Have you ever felt so unworthy- when you read that psalm who may dwell on your Holy Hill- we don’t need to the sacrifices have been made- all your prize cows , bulls etc are safe! I feel a little like that in standing here before you- who am I to tell or teach you-But I don’t, I have come to share what I am learning and what I am about to say is not very new but as we speak it, it comes out our mouth and sinks a little deeper into our hearts and we learn a little more of the wonder of God!
For those that like title to talks you can call this A God of second chances.
Have you ever wondered- have I made the right decision, am I where God wants me to be then this may help!
I would like to look at someone I can Identify with in the OT – Jonah!
Jon1v1
The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai “Go to the great city of Nineveh and peach against it because its wickedness has come up befor me”But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish, He went down to joppa and after paying thefare, he went abourd and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord…
We know the rest of the story………..
Jon1v17
“the Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah…………”
Jon 2 V1
In my distressI call to the lords and He answered me
From the depths of the grave
I called for help……………….”
Jon 3 v1
Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time…………………
40 more days and Ninevah will be destroyed
They fasted and prayed
“When God saw this he had compassion and he did not bring upon them the destruction..
A well known story- and not an uncommon one- in the bible
Here we have a guy who goes in a completely different direction to where God wants him to go!
Even when we go the wrong way God does not desert us he brings us back- we do not need to fear that maybe we have missed the mark now all is lost- that’s where the NT can testify that ” all things work for the highest good for those in Christ Jesus” Can you imagine the story of Jonah without the whale episode- it was and is a huge learning experience for all. God gives us a second chance and a third and a fourth….
Lets have a look at another storey and Ill remind you of the storey of Elijah- We know that wonderful storey about Elijah how he challengers the 450 Baal prophets – “You call upon the name of your god and Ill call on the name of the Lord The God who answers by fire- he is God (1 Kings 18.24)
and eventually has them seized and killed. Jezebel gets to hear of this and she says Im going to get you- you’re dead She points her bony finger at him….
336 “Elijah was afraid”1 Kings 193) and ran for his life to Bersheba- he went a days journey into the desert and says “Iv had enough Lord take my life and goes to sleep
Even when we go in the wrong direction God is still with us and Elijah and he still cares for us- an Angel says get up and eat and a meal is prepared and then travelled for 40 days to reach a cave in Horeb- where the Lord says to him ”What are you doing here Elijah” and the Lord speaks not in the wind that tore the mountain apart and shatters rocks, not by earthquake, not by fire but in a whisper
And then a voice said to him again: “what are you doing here Elijah v13”- go back the way you came…………then go to the Desert of Damascus…………
He may have gone the wrong way but God was still with him, God never left him. Ttwice He asks “What are you doing here Elijah”- he had to walk back- not a miraculous flight and instant fix he had to retrace his steps- but he had learnt a lot!
God is guiding us no matter who we are fleeing from, or if were in the desert or in fear or going the wrong way- know that His hand is upon our lives and we are the better for it
He give us another chance!
I cannot go past one of my favourite stories that of Abraham and Lot in making decisions Gen 13:8
Lets not have any quarrelling between you and me …….if you go to the left Ill go to the right…… we know that Lot chose the well watered plains from which he had to be rescued-
EVENWHEN WE DO NOT MAKE DECISIONS GOD IS STILL GUIDING US!
The other amazing part of this is prayer changes the future!- - Ninevah was destined to be destroyed- but prayer and fasting changed this!
Our future is in our hands in many ways- its in our prayers its in our interest to serve God.
But after all this Jonah is angry - things did no go according to plan and not only that – he has lost face
We know the story how Jonah went to the east of the city sat down – “Now Lord take away my life for it is better for me to die than to live”
When things are not going according to plan, sit down and ask God show me Your will in this and Gods speaks to Jonah “ You are concerned about this vine but you did not tend it or make it grow but Ninevah has more than 120 000 people should I not be concerned about that great city. Does that not remind you of “Where were you when I laid down the foundations of the earth”