Just Call Me Jonah

Just Call Me Jonah

The LORD spoke to Jonah a second time: “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message I have given you.” This time Jonah obeyed the LORD’s command and went to Nineveh.

Jonah 3:1-3

My heart sank as the moment passed; I instinctively knew that I’d blown it. I’d felt the Holy Spirit’s gentle nudge to say something, but my fears about how my friend would take it and thoughts about whether I’d offend her made me hold my tongue until the moment of opportunity passed.

In the days following, I felt the heavy weight of regret and failure, and I feared that my lost opportunity would have eternal consequences. I sought the Lord in prayer, asking for forgiveness and a second chance—another opportunity to say the words I knew I was supposed to say in that moment. I prayed that my failure to speak up before would not impact the relationship this other person might have with Jesus.

God gently reminded me of Jonah—he ran from God’s command and was tossed off a boat in the midst of a violent storm, swallowed by a big fish, and spit back up on the very land he had tried to flee. Jonah, acknowledging his sin, repented and went to Nineveh to accomplish what God had told him to do originally—to warn its citizens that the wrath of God was coming. The Ninevites heeded his words and repented. God gave Jonah a second chance, and he seized it.

It wasn’t even two weeks later when my second chance came: a new opportunity arose for me to speak the words I had failed to speak before, and I leaped at the chance. Afterward I wept, thanking God for a second chance to follow through on his nudging.

Our God is the God of second chances. While we often consider this in the context of nonbelievers becoming believers, it holds true in my life as I try to reflect the glory of God, partly through intentional kindness. When I fail, when I blow it, when I mess it all up, I’ve learned to quickly approach God in prayer, asking for forgiveness and for a second chance to get it right. When have you brushed off God’s leading recently?

—Julie

— Today’s Act of Kindness —

Ask God for a second chance to accomplish his purposes, and then follow through.