Second Chances

Have you ever, just once in your life wished for a second chance or a do-over? Tonight I am wrestling with the idea of second chances and opportunities for do-overs. Logic and life in general, support the ideology that things “just happen.” But for me there’s much more to the story, and much like Paul Harvey (for those who know the name you get the reference point I’m making) and his iconic radio voice telling his audience …”The Rest of the Story.”…here’s mine. All too often, (we ) as Christians do not credit God for everything, we use the “just happen” phrase to explain so many things. What’s more believable…random acts just “happening” based upon the lining of the stars or merely cosmic luck or a Creator, purposely creating life unique and specific including everything on, in and around the earth with great majestic detail. I choose “Creator!” Don’t think for a moment I have always done that, or do that all the time, saying and doing are totally different, after all I am human and too often do things repeated proving my case over and over. You see, with God we get much more than second chances and one time do-overs. God knows we are sinful but He still loves us and forgives us over and over and over…He carefully and meticulously took the time using His divine power to create each of us in His image, no two completely alike. I was created for a reason and with purpose and so were you. As we seek to be more Christ like, we begin to make better decisions and sometimes it takes longer than expected to finally learn the lessons He is teaching us, God does not expect perfection because it is not attainable due to our sinful nature but we can strive to be more like Him and to seek Him daily for guidance and discernment. The more we seek God’s will for our lives and follow His teachings the less we are influenced to give credit to chance, I like to call it the “devil’s paradise” the blending into society and taking credit for things that clearly belong to God. I used to think that when bad things happened it was because I didn’t pray enough or I disobeyed or…the list goes on and on. The truth is bad things happen to good people, good Godly people…we may not (probably do not) understand at the moment why bad things happen but later…some later than others it happens and all of a sudden you see things in a different light and then, at least for me it’s a “God Thing!” Life is a series of events that if given the opportunity will build upon one another and as you look back at your life you will see the tapestry of God’s amazing love all around you and in all your experiences. As a child of God, I need reminded that I as much as I like to take credit for the things I do they are not truly mine, I was uniquely and wonderfully made by God and for His purposes. I am thankful for second chances, third, forth, fifth…you get the picture! I’ve had bad things happen to me and people I love have had bad things happen to them and although those experiences are and were sad and frustrating to say the least I can see that they were preparing me for the path I am traveling right now. I’m enjoying life with the most unexpected experiences and it’s all a “God Thing!” I had imagined and even made a list of what I wanted and didn’t want at this time in my life, guess what? If I had stayed true to “my” ideas I would not have met 2 amazing little boys and their pets (a cat and a dog) and a second chance with their amazing mommy! Whatever the future holds, I’m in good hands…God’s Hands! You see what I failed to mention earlier was I had made a list of do’s and don’ts for this particular time in my life and pets and kids were “don’ts” on my list and I would have been missing out on so many wonderful experiences and adventures had I stuck to my list and not listened to God. Sometimes, bad things happen to prepare us for experiences of a lifetime. God loves you and His word tells us that “…for the Lord disciplines those whom he loves, and chastises every child whom he accepts. Endure trials for the sake of discipline. God is treating you as children; for what child is there whom a parent does not discipline? If you do not have that discipline in which all children share, then you are illegitimate and not his children. Moreover, we had human parents to discipline us, and we respected them. Should we not be even more willing to be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share his holiness. Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”Hebrews 12:6-11 (NRSV)

~Blessings and Peace~