God Of The Do-Over

YOU HAVE ANOTHER CHANCE TO DO IT RIGHT!

At some point in conversations with many people I hear someone say ¡§If I could only have a do-over¡¨ or ¡§If I only knew then what I know now, I would do things differently.¡¨ The words seem hold a tinge of the sound of regret for what they feel they didn¡¦t do right at a particular point in life and even more devastating¡K.they truly believe they¡¦ve lost something they will never recover.

There are some which have given up on a dream or a relationship because they think they¡¦ve messed up their ¡§shot¡¨ at happiness. Their dream of success or a loving family unit has been replaced with the dream of what they would do differently if given the chance. All of them want the same thing¡Kthey wish for a ¡§do-over.¡¨ Their words confront the very purpose of my life ¡Kto tell them about the God of the DO-OVER!

I was about 13 years old when I thought it would be great to play golf. I was excited about the opportunity to go to the golf course with a semi-pro golfer. He was going to give me a free lesson. Reflecting, it¡¦s now clear that he wasn¡¦t gifted to teach, as was soon evident by his lack of patience with me. He had one instruction after another. ¡§Hold the club this way. You¡¦re holding the club wrong. Stand this way. Keep your eye on the ball. I said watch the ball. YOU¡¦RE NOT WATCHING THE BALL!!¡¨ He was so annoyed with my game. He even said I didn¡¦t have any game. He told me to give up¡Kthat golf would never be my thing. The day was a blow-out. I didn¡¦t have fun, I was ashamed for my lack of skill and I knew this guy would never give me a do-over. When I grew up I found that to be the case with a lot of people and not just over a golf lesson.

Fast forward 20 years. Yes, it took me that long before making another attempt at golf. Did you know that someone¡¦s defeating words can set you back for years? Anyway, I¡¦m attempting golf again with a different guy. This one used a golf term I was unfamiliar with but I caught something hopeful in his word. He told me about a ¡§mulligan.¡¨ That¡¦s a little golf word for DO OVER! Who knew? Not me! I gave up trying long ago because I believed I only had one shot at being good at golf. The point of the ¡§mulligan¡¨ is you get another shot if you don¡¦t hit your intended target the first time. Sounds a little bit like grace and mercy, doesn¡¦t it?

I was reminded of David at Ziklag in 1 Samuel Chapters 27-30. David has been hunted long enough by King Saul and decides to leave and go to Gath, a town away from home. (I could literally stop right there to make another point) and there he met a man named Achish, that favored him. Have you ever considered the possibility that some favor could be a distraction, even a fatal one? Anyway, to make a long story a little shorter¡Kthe man gave David the town of Ziklag. A whole town!! Are you starting to see how easy it was for David to lose focus and miss what was happening right under his nose? We might even say that he took his eye off of the ball. He moves from living with the king to being a bodyguard for Achish, who as it turns out is aligned with the enemies of the king. David is making one bad decision after another, isn¡¦t he? While David is somewhere he shouldn¡¦t be, hanging with someone he shouldn¡¦t be, doing something he shouldn¡¦t be¡K his ¡§gift town¡¨ Ziklag is burned to the ground and it appeared that ALL the women and children with it. All included his women and children as well as the women and children of all his men.

If anyone was ever desperate for a do-over it was David. Here he is keeping company with the enemies of the king. Now, it¡¦s important to note that David was not Saul¡¦s enemy. Because David was not an enemy of King Saul he couldn¡¦t imagine the evil that an avowed enemy of Saul¡¦s would devise to do to him. Obviously, David hadn¡¦t thought things through. That sounds like us at times, yet even when we fail to dot the ¡§I¡¦s¡¨ and cross the ¡§T¡¦s¡¨ we can expect mercy from the God of The Do-Over. Was David deserving of a do-over? Are we? No, probably not. BUT, we don¡¦t get what we deserve; we get a ¡§royal¡¨ pardon because of Jesus. Everyone in the kingdom of God has the privilege of another chance¡Keven as many as 490 times a day. His mercy in new every morning and furthermore, inexhaustible! This reminds me of another golf game term. It¡¦s called BEST BALL! Best ball is a game which says when another player hits the ball you can claim possession as your own¡K..even if he¡¦s only a couple of inches from the cup. What does that mean with regards to Jesus? Just that we no longer have to play this game of life, deficiently. Everything Jesus gets, we get. We are joint-heirs. We claimed His ¡§Best Ball¡¨ so to speak.