The God of Second Chances
Text: Jonah 3:1-5
“Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time…” —Jonah 3:1
They called him “Wrong Way” Roy. His gaffe on New Year’s Day, 1929, is often cited as the worst blunder in college football history. When Roy Riegels and his University of California team played Georgia Tech in the Rose Bowl, Riegels picked up a fumble and began to run in the wrong direction. Though he was only 30 yards away from the Yellow Jackets’ end zone, Riegels somehow got disoriented and sprinted in the opposite direction for 69 yards, which turned into a scoring opportunity for Tech.
During halftime, Riegels was humiliated and so distraught that he had to be pressed hard by his coach to return in the second half. Roy said, “Coach, I can’t do it. I’ve ruined you, I’ve ruined myself, I’ve ruined the University of California. I couldn’t face that crowd to save my life.” Coach Nibs Price responded by saying “Roy, get up and go back out there—the game is only half over.” And those Tech players might tell you that they had never seen a man play football as Roy Riegels played in that second half.
Jonah was a prophet of God, called with a specific purpose, who ran in the opposite direction of which the Lord had called him. Much more significant than humiliating oneself on a gridiron and disappointing a fickle fan base, Jonah put countless lives at risk, including 120,000 who were helpless and doomed apart from the message he was commissioned to bring them. Eternity hung in the balances. Jonah certainly blew it in the scheme of God’s plan for his life. He had failed the Lord, himself, and many others. The story would’ve ended there had his God not been faithful, good, and full of grace.
After being vomited by the great fish the Lord had appointed to swallow him, we see that “the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time.” Jonah had a head-on collision with a “second chance” God. He rose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord, entered the city, and began his street-preaching ministry. Amazing things happened as the Ninevites believed God and called for a fast, from the greatest to the least of them.
Aren’t you thankful that we serve a God of second chances? We read a Bible chock-full of “second chance” stories. Abraham lied, yet still became the father of faith. Sarah laughed at God, yet still went on to bear a child at an unlikely age. Noah got drunk. Samson was immoral. Rahab had been a prostitute before a second chance landed her in the lineage of Jesus! David was an adulterer and a murderer. Elijah was suicidal. Peter denied Jesus before his second chance put him on a platform preaching the Gospel to thousands on the day of Pentecost.
Where have you gaffed it up for God? What have been your spiritual blunders or moral failures? When have you run from God in pursuit of your own comfort or selfish ambition? Have you been humiliated, disgraced, shamed, or judged as a failure by others? What if we pointed the arrow in a different direction: have you been guilty of judging others as unworthy of God’s grace and mercy—undeserving of second chances? Jonah’s rebellion speaks so loudly to our own failures, our own brokenness, our own prejudices, our own judgmentalism, and our own need to be rescued from ourselves. In Jesus, we have such a Rescuer.
In 1991, Roy Riegels was inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame. He wasn’t defined by one bad play, as humiliating as it was. Your story isn’t over either, because our God has a really good track record of turning second chances into stories of triumph. Think about that as you seek to abide in Him this week.
PRAYER
God, thank you for second chances. Because of your grace, our failures don’t have to define us. Our best days are still ahead of us because of you hold our future. Thank you for that assurance. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Questions for Reflection and/or Group Discussion
- Do you have a favorite “second chance” story?
- In what way did God give Jonah a second chance? (Jonah 3:1-2) What did Jonah tell the Ninevites? (v.4) How did the people respond to Jonah’s message? (v.5)
- When have you experienced a surprising, undeserved measure of God’s mercy in your life?
- Why do you think that fasting might be a useful part of repentance?
- How can you express thanks to the Lord this week for all the love and mercy He has given to you and others?
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