“Dodged a bullet” – that’s what they say when something bad or harmful or negative could have happened to you BUT – it didn’t. Therefore, you dodged a bullet. It’s a common enough expression, used often, probably because our days are filled with near misses or dodged bullets, even if we are unaware of just how many bullets miss us each day. Maybe ignorance is bliss, but I think not. If I truly recognize how many times I have been rescued, how many times I have been spared from some hurt or harm or danger or disaster – this knowledge should lead me to gratitude every time – gratitude to my Heavenly Father, who watches over me, whose mercies towards me never cease. After all,

“My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip – He who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you – the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm – He will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” (Psalm 121:2-8)

This has been a week of particularly stormy spring weather here, complete with lightning, thunderstorms, heavy rains, high speed winds and even some tornado touchdowns one evening. We have been under weather advisories multiple evenings and I have found myself driving in some challenging conditions this week. I have definitely dodged a few bullets on the pothole filled roads this week, (post – “pitfalls and potholes”) resulting in multiple second chances for me and for my car.

BUT – in truth, is this me dodging bullets, due to my skill, dexterity, wisdom and wits? OR – is this me receiving God’s freely given, undeserved grace, mercy and protection over my daily life? I think we both know this is the latter and never the former. I am not a skilled bullet dodger in the least. But God is a skilled protector and a merciful giver of second, second chances. And I am the thankful recipient of all those second, second chances that His mercy and His protection give to me. My response? I definitely say with the psalmist –

“Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits – who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” (Psalm 103:2-5)

My Heavenly Father “forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases” cancelling my debt and setting me free again and again. (just like the fellow in my previous post – “second chances”) I experience this on a daily basis, although some of my rescues are more dramatic than others and some of my cancelled debts are larger than others. Nonetheless, I want to be aware of and thankful for each and every one of my second, second chances, of every forgiven sin, every cancelled debt that I never could have paid myself.

Just this past week, I received yet another kind of second chance. It started with a medical test that required “more testing”, meaning – maybe something is wrong, let’s take a closer look. So in the interim between first and second tests, I lived with the possibility of this diagnosis being reality. When the second test revealed “nothing to see here, false alarm”, it was for me a new beginning, a clean slate. I was freed from the burden that this diagnosis would have entailed, a great weight was lifted from me, my debt was wiped away, there would be no “jail time” for me due to illness. I have been given yet another second chance.

Now that I have been set free, what will I do with my new-found freedom? Go back to my old life? Do what the guy in my previous post did when his debt was forgiven and he was set free? FYI – he was so grateful to have his debt forgiven, that his first act as a forgiven, free man was to go out and send to prison the first person he came across who owed him an inconsequentially small sum of money. (Matthew chapter 18 – the parable of the unmerciful servant) No, that is NOT how I want to live out my debt free, sins forgiven, bailed out of jail life.

Maybe I should think about sharing the good news that I have experienced with others, letting them know that they too can have second, second chances in this life. God is not stingy with His forgiveness, nor with His mercy and lovingkindness. In fact, in Psalms I read –

“He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on His children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him; for He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust.” (Psalm 103:10-14)

It’s not that I have been getting better at dodging bullets, or that I have been dodging bullets at all. The truth is that God is being gracious to me and continues to give me undeserved, unearned second, second chances every day as I walk with Him. I want every second chance God gives me, to conform me a little closer to His image and to His will. So that the next time God forgives me for saying harsh words instead of kind words, His forgiveness will change me, so much so, that when given that next second chance – I will say the kind words He desires, instead of the harsh or hurtful words I might speak if left unchanged by His forgiveness and love.

However, I will allow God’s forgiveness to change me. I will not squander away the precious gift of second chances, (like the unmerciful servant) nor of second, second chances, nor of all the second chances God gives after that. Each second chance is a gift. I will thank my Heavenly Father for each and every one of them that He sends my way. And God gives me these second chances at just the right time. Just when I think I’ve messed up too bad to come back from whatever it is, I’m reminded of others who must have thought this very same thing. They believed that they too, had used up all their second chances with God.

There was the prodigal son, the disciple Peter and the thief hanging on the cross beside Jesus, to name a few. Each one of these had messed up big time with some really bad decisions. BUT – each one was rescued, forgiven, and restored to family, to their calling, and to eternal life respectively. The Good News of the Gospel – you and I are offered a second chance every day. I just have to humble myself, confess my failure and ask God for forgiveness. God is faithful to respond by giving me that second chance. Then I must be brave enough to accept the opportunity and face the challenge that a second chance always brings with it. In humility I pray King David’s prayer –

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your unfailing love; according to Your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. . . . Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. . . . Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. . . . Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” (Psalm 51:1-2, 7, 10 & 12)

Second, second chances – King David received them multiple times. And so did a most unlikely woman – the infamous woman caught in adultery. Her second chance encounter with Jesus was truly dramatic. She was called to account publicly, in front of a large crowd, by the religious leaders of the day. However, this situation intended for public humiliation of the woman and for catching Jesus in some legal misstep, didn’t unfold as the religious leaders had planned. Instead, it ended with the woman receiving a much needed second chance in life. Their law demanded that the woman be stoned to death for her crime of adultery. BUT – Jesus said to the crowd,

” ‘If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.’ . . . At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ ‘No one, sir,’ she said. ‘Then neither do I condemn you,’ Jesus declared. ‘Go now and leave your life of sin.’ ” (John 8:7-11)

This woman received her second chance – a clean slate, her past forgiven, her sin debt paid, no jail time, no more death penalty hanging over her head – she was free – free to go and live a new life, a life free from the bondage of sin! Talk about your second chances! Yours and mine, dear readers, our second chances are no less miraculous, no less life changing, no less undeserved, but just as earnestly desired and needed as was this woman’s.

Every second chance is a miracle. Every second chance is a gift from God.

Thank You, Heavenly Father, for every second chance You give me. May I not waste a one of them!

sincerely, Grace Day