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.
Back to the God of The Do-Over¡K
Do you dream of a do-over? Most people do but sometimes a little barrier known as shame keeps them from believing they can have one. We have to stop listening to that condemning voice. The Word of God says there is now no condemnation to those which are in Christ Jesus who no longer walk according to the dictates of the flesh but after the law of the Spirit which is in Christ Jesus. In that law we are to love and to forgive. Be merciful to others and be merciful to ourselves. The truth is we¡¦re heirs to what Jesus deserves, not what we deserve. We get it based on His performance, not ours.
If you¡¦ve found yourself in the sand trap of adultery or a sand trap of alcohol abuse or any other hard-to-get-out-of place, you can get out. You¡¦ve been forgiven so accept it and forgive yourself. Stop listening to the damning voice that says you¡¦ve missed your one and only shot or that you¡¦re not good enough. Let¡¦s admit it, quit it and forget it! There is none good but God and we are sons and daughters of a good God. Jesus died so that we could be partakers of His last will and testament. AND He came back to see that it was carried out to the letter! Heb 9:16, 17 says it this way- For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. Acts 5:30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.
Even when we mess up, we are not disqualified. We can get to the next level, victoriously. When we told God about our sin is not when He found out about it. We¡¦ve been forgiven, so stop focusing on what you¡¦re not¡Kfocus on who you want to be. God is not counting how many times you missed the shot. He doesn¡¦t keep track of a suffered wrong. He will forgive us 490 times a day. Love keeps no account of a suffered wrong. Read all of 1 Corinthians 13. This is the character of God and character goal for anyone in pursuit of true greatness.
God doesn¡¦t want things to move us off course or to inhibit us from running the race set before us. We can¡¦t finish our race with joy if we continue to focus on our last bad game. It¡¦s over. It¡¦s in the past. Leave it there. I watch relationships that could have been restored but he couldn¡¦t let the hurt go. She couldn¡¦t let the hurt go. In relationships, in business, or any other loss¡Kin order to grow we have to let failure go. Encourage yourself with truth. Look up scripture promises like Joshua 1:8 and those which speak to your situation. I promise you, you¡¦ll find something to hang onto while you press forward.
Rehearse truth in your ears... ¡§With God all things are possible to the believer.¡¨
- Mk 9:23
God¡¦s still on the throne with all-power intact. He can still get water out of a rock if that¡¦s what it takes. If you don¡¦t like the way you¡¦re life has turned out¡KDO IT OVER!!!! Give yourself another chance. Give others another chance to do it over.
God is a healer. He did it for the paralytic and for the woman with the issue of blood ¡K.and million and millions since. HE¡¦S THE GOD OF THE DO-OVER.
King David wasn¡¦t perfect but he had such a confidence toward God. He had confidence The Lord was his Shepherd. He knew what that meant¡Kthat a real shepherd never leaves his sheep, but gently guides them the way they SHOULD go. As soon as David turned his back on failure, he recovered all. If God did it for David, He¡¦ll do it for you. If God is for you who or what can be against you? The Lord is also your Shepherd. He leads you by still water, not into hot water.
God¡¦s Do-Over Word for you-
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.If anyone is in Christ he¡¦s a new creature
The enemy will seize every chance to remind us of our past, but God swore Himself by an oath to forget, completely, every repented failure. He can do that, He¡¦s God. ƒº
He wants us to forget it, too. When we comprehend that God loves us regardless of our failures, we¡¦re no longer bound to a shame that forbids us to try again.
Last but certainly not least look at this scripture-
Acts 20:24
But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
¡K.remember, there¡¦s no shame in falling¡Konly shame in forfeiting as a no-show. Trust the God of The Do-Over. He¡¦s Christ in you, the hope of glory and that glory isn¡¦t for Him¡Kit¡¦s for you. The dictionary defines it as a distinction given by common consent or a distinguished achievement. He¡¦s already consented through redemption and He¡¦s the hope of your best game in every situation! Agree with Him. The God of the Do-Over is your God, forever.
