If you could redo a moment, which would you choose? If you could go back in time, what would you change? Would your Yes from then turn into No and vice versa?
When I think of second chances, I have words like forgiveness, compassion, and understanding.
For the past few weeks, I’ve been thinking a lot about how God can redeem bad experiences. And in a way, the term, second chances is self-explanatory: an opportunity to try again after a previous attempt has failed or gone wrong.
I am ashamed to admit this, but even though I know that once I repent of my choices, God keeps no record of my mistakes, many times, my past is alive and often loud, reminding me of my previous failures because sometimes the hardest part is not to forgive but to forget.
Recently I started watching The Chosen; I grew up with the Bible; I know it, but even if I know it, I am on the edge of my seat in each episode. There is a scene in one of the episodes where Mary goes back to her old ways, and Matthew and Peter try to bring her back. Her reply is:
He fixed me once… and I broke again.
He fixed me once, and I broke again. I lost count of how many times He fixed me, and I broke over and over again. You can find traces of that in all my books, including the ones for the kids.
You see, our mistakes don’t define us, but they shape us. They form us; they give us eyes to see the brokenness in other people. You can read the pain behind fake smiles because you walked through that.
You can see beyond the lie of ”I am ok” because, for many years, that lie was also ”your truth”. And the best part about second chances is the change.
You walk through, learn from that, and grow from that, and when you make it to the other side, your light will leave a mark on those around you. Your light will shine even when you try to hide it.
A few days ago, here in London, we celebrated Easter. For me, Easter represents the embodiment of second, third chances and 5th chances and so forth.
”Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.” Isaiah 59:1.
There is power in the Cross, there is power in redemption, and the best part is that it is not about a specific holiday or time of year. It’s about those moments when you feel down, or you feel that everything is lost; it’s about those days of happiness. Because in a life with a higher perspective than the ”now”, He is the God of your valley, but also, He is the God of your mountain. He is the God of your everything in between.
Acceptance. Presence. Pure Joy. Be. (L.S.)
Until next time, hugs.