Do You Need a Second Chance?
Three steps you can take if you’re ready for a new beginning
There are few things in life more redemptive than second chances. In junior high school we call them “do overs.” As adults we may find ourselves saying, “can we just forget this even happened and start over?” Of course, forgetting is the hard part.
Think of the relief that comes when you get a second chance. A quarterback throws a costly interception only to have it negated by defensive offsides. Another try. Inmates get paroled when enough time has been served. A new beginning. A divorcee finds a new love. A second chance. A bankrupt businesswoman has a chance to start a new company. A fresh start.
The one thing all second chances have in common is that they follow failure. A second chance implies that the first chance ended in disappointment or even disaster. If we were not given a second chance the road to success would end at a cliff’s edge. It is standing at that edge, looking into the abyss that someone pulls us back, turns us around and points us in a new direction. Second chances turn despair into hope, discouragement into anticipation and brokenness into opportunities for healing.
We all need second chances because we all have failure in our life. Some of our favorite biblical stories are stellar examples of second chances. Adam and Eve are not annihilated after their fall into sin but even after leaving Eden are given a second chance to live in relationship with their Creator and obey his commands. Jonah runs from God in disobedience, is swallowed by a whale and spit back out on the ground with a second chance for obedience. Peter denies Jesus three times and is given a second chance by Jesus himself to proclaim his love for Jesus three times.
Indeed the entire gospel story is God’s cosmic second chance for humanity. Having lost our original perfection in Eden, the cross of Christ and His resurrection gives us a second chance to know the purpose of our life and find our redemption in the arms of a loving Savior.
The Steward’s Journey is a second chance ministry, helping God’s people discover the abundant life He created us to live. It requires us to acknowledge and set aside life of the owner, the life bent on control and self- dependence, the life of misplaced identity, of using others for our own agenda, and for ‘subduing’ creation for our own purposes. It starts with a cry for help that comes from underneath a heavy load of stress, fear, discouragement, anxiety and despair that are the products of the life of the owner. It’s God’s great second chance to experience the freedom and joy of a life that is motivated by grace, empowered by freedom and infused with joy.
Do you need a second chance today? Are you tired of playing the owner? Have you tried controlling the world around you and everyone in it and found nothing but frustration? Have you relied on yourself and tied your identity to your job and seen it all end in failure?
Today our loving Creator stands as the prodigal father with his arms outstretched calling us home. He is ready to help strip away the chains of ownership and set us on a new path with our feet planted firmly on the ground of faith and our eyes focused solely on Jesus.
If you are ready for just such a second chance, then consider these three steps.
- Look at your life, all of it – your time, talents, treasures, relationships, attitudes, fears, hopes and dreams, and acknowledge out loud that everything belongs to God. It’s all His. Don’t leave anything out, refuse to play the owner in any area of life.
- Name the things in your life you are trying to control. They may be your finances, your employees, your reputation, your spouse, your children, your time, your future and more.
- Surrender all of your life back to Him, every bit of it. Let the chains fall from your shoulders, feel the freedom that God has for you when you define success in terms of faithfulness.
These are just the first steps, but they will start you on your journey of the faithful steward. If you want to learn more, look through our resources on this website and find those that can help you on your way.
Finally, here is a brief video I produced for my new novel, The Four Gifts of The King. It is a story of second chances. I hope you’ll a get a copy and see if in it you find your own story, your own journey to meet the King.
