God of the Second Chance

I was driving this week and heard that old Hezekiah Walker song.

“He’s the God of the second chance.”

I had not thought about that lyric in years.

Back then it felt upbeat.
Almost simple.

Now it feels surgical.

We love the idea of a second chance.

It sounds generous.
It sounds hopeful.
It sounds safe.

What we rarely admit is why we need one.

Most of my worst moments did not happen by accident.

They happened because I knew better
and did it anyway.

I knew the tone was wrong.
I knew the motive was mixed.
I knew the shortcut would cost something later.

And I took it.

We talk about second chances like they are small resets.
Like God hits refresh and we try again.

But Scripture never treats sin like a typo.

It treats it like rebellion.

That is what makes grace so amazing.

God is not the God of the second chance because we are misunderstood.

He is the God of the second chance because we are willful.

Jonah ran.
David covered.
Peter swore he did not even know Him.

None of them were confused.
They were human.

And still, God did not write them out of the story.

He wrote redemption into it.

The older I get, the less I am impressed with my own intentions.

I can talk myself into almost anything.
I can justify with spiritual language.
I can frame disobedience as strategy.

What I cannot manufacture is mercy.

That comes from Him.

Every time I am exposed.
Every time I am corrected.
Every time I see clearly what I almost became.

That is not humiliation.

That is a second chance.

And maybe the miracle is not that God keeps giving them.

Maybe the miracle is that He is still willing to walk with me after I needed one.

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