Jesus Will Give You Another Chance 

Have you ever been given a second chance? What a gift! A second chance could be as simple as an eraser at the end of your pencil, or it could be as complex as restoration within a broken relationship. I can think of many opportunities that the grace of a second chance has been offered to me, even some when I didn’t really deserve it. There’s a clear and present question that’s as human as the reality that we all make mistakes: how many chances do I get? How many chances do I have to give? Thankfully, Peter asked Jesus this exact question.

“Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?”

“No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!”

Matthew 18:21-22

The point here is not about knowing your times tables and keeping track – it’s more like Jesus said don’t forgive just once a day, but how about seventy times every day for a whole week! The implication is that Jesus is saying forgiveness is limitless. This is truly mind boggling, so obviously impossible without the power of God. There is no human with that capacity for risk, because forgiveness like this requires unconditional love, compassionate vision and limitless grace.

The best part about this story is that Peter was candidate number one for second chances. Peter was the kind of guy whose responses included leaping without looking, calling fire down to destroy his enemies and scrambling for position – and all this before he denied Jesus and ran away! It’s easy to point a finger at Peter, but the reality is that we can all painfully relate to Peter’s follies.  

I wonder if Peter thought about what Jesus said when he later wrote

“The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed but wants everyone to repent.”

2 Peter 3:9

There’s been a change in Peter’s life from when he asked Jesus “how many times?” to saying “God’s patient for your sake…” The transformation comes from someone who knows what it’s like to need a second, fourth, sixth or seventy-seventh chance.

It’s hard to take another chance, perhaps you’re stuck telling yourself that you’ve messed up too many times. Maybe you’re afraid you’ll make a bigger mess if you try again. It could be that you feel like you don’t know how to go forward because you seem stuck.

Let Go of Your Past

It’s hard to see where you’re going if you’re always looking behind you – and that’s just what holding on to your past is like. Holding on to your past sounds like retelling the stories of your pain and failings again and again. You can be the kind of person who never lets your past determine your future. God does that – His vision for you is full of hope and future promise (Jeremiah 29:11). There’s a difference between chronically ruminating on the past and recognizing that the things in your past have led you to where you are and looking forward in faith.

Own Where You Are Right Now

Your second chance will demand a hard look at where you are right now. You can’t go from couch potato to marathon runner in one day – there is a process, and it’s true: you must walk before you can run. Many men and women of faith through the ages have testified of a journey, one step at a time. Be honest about your current struggles but take heart! Everything you are going through right now can be used for your future.

Look for Can-do Instead of Can-not

As you take a chance to try again for God, it’s good to look for what you can do and not get too hung up on what you can’t. Even if you try something and it doesn’t work out, it’s ok to try again. Jesus isn’t counting your failures – in fact the Bible says he throws them into the sea of forgetfulness (Micah 7:19). Your limitations are not the best place to put your focus, so look for what you can do. When you’ve been given a second chance and you go for it, every day is a victory Jesus is celebrating and He will put people around you to celebrate with you.

Accept Help

If you are seriously taking the opportunity to start again, especially in an area where you have failed, you must accept help. It’s been said that you are 95% more likely to achieve a goal if you have an accountability partner. It is vital to have people around you who are encouraging you to keep going and will ask you how you are doing with genuine investment in you. This is what makes being really a part of the life of church so powerful. Don’t linger around the church community anonymously, there is more for you!

Jesus will give you another chance, choose to take it. I can’t predict how the journey will go, but I can assure you He will be along for the ride with you.