My mom is perhaps the fairest grandma in the world. She also has the gift of giving (or maybe that's buying...) If it's on sale, she'll buy it and store it up for a good gift. She has five grandsons and one granddaughter from two of her three boys and me. If she bought one t-shirt for a grandchild, she bought six, all in different colors. If she bought an alarm clock for one, she would buy one for all six grandchildren. A mistake, perhaps, but it was only out of love that she did this. She wanted to be the best grandma she could be, and with six grandchildren, the last thing she would want is to play favorites...or to be accused of having favorites!
However, one day I had to have a sit down with her. "You have to love them the way they need to be loved, mom. You can't just give cookie-cutter gifts and expect them to love everything you give them. Take some time and only offer things that you think they will really like...things that will mean something special to them. They don't care about receiving things...They only care if you took the time to really know them for who they are...It's the thought that goes behind the gift, not the gift itself. Then what you give and do for them will be appreciated more, and they'll appreciate you more. They would rather you not give them anything at all instead of something without meaning."
OK, the conversation was much more in depth than that, seasoned with words of love, and believe you me, I prayed and prayed before having that difficult conversation with my mom. I didn't know if she would be offended or how she would take it, but I knew it had to be said. The relationship between my kids (specifically Amber) and my mom was deteriorating, especially since they saw her only a few times a year, at best. My mom's constant attempts to show her love with gift giving weren't being received in the way she intended. In fact, it was creating a wedge between them.
My mom received well what I said, and the next time she saw Amber, she sat down with her one on one. "Can Gram have a do-over?" She asked her for forgiveness, and she then started down a road of re-building their Gram-Am relationship.
Well, as I read in Jonah chapter three today, I see the same thing. God gave Jonah a "do-over." My God is a God of second chances, not just for Jonah, but for the people of Nineveh, too!
Jonah 3
1) Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time.
2) "Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you."
3) Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very important city - a visit required three days.
4) On the first day, Jonah started into the city. He proclaimed, "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned."
5) The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.
6) When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust.
7) Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh: "By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let any man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything: do not let them eat or drink.
8) But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence.
9) Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish."
10) When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction He had threatened.
I love verse one. Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time. How many times is that true in our lives? How many times does God speak to us about an area in our life. We listen. We nod. Then like Jonah, we run the other way. Maybe not blatantly run the other way, but eventually we find ourselves far from where He's called us or asked us to be. Sometimes God nudges us; sometimes He slaps us with the Truth...not just once, but over and over. Yes, my God is a God of second chances (and thirds and fourths), and I'm so glad He is.
He is faithful. He lets me ask for a do-over. He forgives, and He restores. Think about the Ninevites. They were wicked people. In Jonah's mind, they did not deserve God's forgiveness or mercy. Yet, the power of God is so strong that they believed. Imagine the whole city coming to faith in God? That's exactly what happened, and it was the last thing Jonah ever expected.
Repentance is not just saying you're sorry or even acknowledging you've done something wrong. It's not a passive verb. To repent is to turn the other way. The Ninevites didn't just believe the message Jonah proclaimed, they took action to change their ways. They heard the prophet proclaim that God was going to overturn the city in forty days. They believed. They repented. And they changed. God granted them a do-over.
I wonder if we simply spoke up more about the Gospel, what would people's reactions really be? Sure, it was nothing less than a miracle for the entire wicked city of Nineveh to come to Christ, yet God used one man to proclaim the message. A man who didn't really even want them to believe. We have too many closet Christians, afraid to go, afraid to tell. Maybe we're like Jonah - we think that a particular people group just won't ever change. Maybe we feel ill-equipped to tell others. Maybe we're just not 'comfortable' sharing Christ with people we know. As I think about Jonah, do you think he was really 'comfortable' sharing this Message with his arch-enemy? I doubt it, yet he was obedient.
Yes, God gave the people of Nineveh a do-over. He had compassion on them because they turned from their evil ways. In fact, Matthew 12:39-41 says in the judgment, the men of Nineveh will stand up and condemn the Israelites for their failure to repent. I wonder if they will also condemn other nations, even this great nation that we live in? I'm not sure, but I do know that the same God who gave Nineveh the do-over is the same One who offers do-overs to me. I hope He doesn't have to threaten to destroy my city to get me to repent the next time, but I'm thankful for the mercy He shows me.
Help me Lord to listen more and act on my own less. Help me to obey the first time; I don't want to take advantage of your offer for a do-over, but I'm thankful you offer forgiveness when we repent. Thank you for second chances.
---Beth Banfill
www.GodandMe2theMax.com