When we were children, most of us had bright dreams and optimistic ideas of how our life as adults would look. But life has a way of happening, blindsiding our hopes, and crushing our dreams. And sometimes it happens in an instant. Standing in the middle of whatever mess has materialized, it can seem we might never recover.
Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples, was just like that. When he was following Jesus, Peter smugly proclaimed he was the most dependable of all the disciples (Matthew 26:33). And in a statement of profound sincerity, Peter vowed he would never, ever abandon Jesus. Yet, soon after his declaration in Matthew 26, we find Peter not only deserted the Messiah at a most crucial moment, he even denied ever knowing the King of Kings. We know from Scripture that when Peter realized what he had done, he wept bitterly. Even worse, Jesus was crucified before Peter could say he was sorry.
If anyone didn’t deserve a second chance, it was this hotheaded and impulsive follower. Yet, Jesus didn’t just write off Peter. Jesus didn’t allow Peter’s failure, bad choices, and reckless behavior to be the defining moments of Peter’s life. Instead, on the day Jesus rose from the dead, there was a special message, not just for all the disciples, but especially for Peter. “But go, tell His disciples – and Peter – that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him just as He told you.” (Mark 16:7) Then later, Jesus recommissioned Peter as the leader to spread his message of hope.
This is just one of the many examples of God giving second chances. And He is the same God who loves us, the same God who is never finished with us. Even when the dark valleys of life have swallowed our hopes and squashed our joy, Jesus doesn’t push us aside or ignore us. He doesn’t see the failures, the wrong choices, and the broken dreams. Instead, He sees us individually, one of the loves of His life. Philippians 1:6 says, "Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Never forget, God is never finished with us and is never done writing our story.
“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.”
Lamentations 3:22-23
