Second Chances

Friday's are typically my day off and today I decided that while my family all took afternoon naps, I would go fishing.  I drove to the pond, put the boat in the water and off I went.  It did not take long until the fish started biting.  The first fish hit, followed by, man...I missed him.  The very next cast, I caught him.  It was there that I thought THANK GOD FOR SECOND CHANCES!

Genesis 27 records the story of Jacob and Esau; two brothers who from the time they were born had been competing for the prominate position in the family.  One day their father Isaac, who had gotten old in age, said to Esau the oldest brother, the time has come for me to bless you.  Isaac told his son to go out hunting, harvest an animal, make a nice meal, and bring it to him and he would give the blessing at that time.  As the story goes, Jacob deceives his half blind father and receives the blessing that was suppose to go to the oldest son, Esau. 

When Esau comes in to receive his blessing, he was met with the surprising reality that he had missed out.  The Bible says that Esau, desperate for his father to bless him, asks Isaac the question, "Have you only one blessing...Bless me - me also" ...and then Esau wept.  The passage continues to say that Isaac turned to Esau and out of the love of his heart, he blessed him.  In essence he gave him a second chance, a second blessing.

That story reminds me of the fact that even in seasons where we feel like we have missed out on God's best for our lives, when we feel like we have sold our birth rights for the temporary satisfaction of the flesh and we are left empty handed...if we will cry out to God, God will give a second chance.  A second blessing.

Filling the Tank!

Several years ago, a friend of mine and I went hunting on a bitter cold morning.  We braved the weather in hopes it would be a great morning to hunt – we had no idea the adventure that awaited us!  As we started our drive, we noticed that the truck sounded rough.  It was making all sorts of noises until finally it shut down.  After several minutes of trying to figure out what had happened, I suddenly realized it was out of gas!

That experience taught me something:  if you don’t fill the tank, you will not reach your destination!  I have found the same is true in our Christian lives as well.  If we don’t take the time to fill the tank, we will not reach our destination.  In Mark 1 we find Jesus in the middle of a great outpouring of power:  people were being healed, saved, and delivered.  However in verse 35, we find that early in the morning, Jesus arose to go pray.  In essence, Jesus was filling his tank before He started a new day. 

Life has a way of draining us.  Our schedules are such that we “go” to the point of exhaustion.  When we push through the exhaustion without taking a moment to fill our tank, we experience frustration, anger, and overwhelming stress.  However, when we take the time to fill our tank through prayer, we suddenly find the means to keep running.  You see, prayer is more than just bringing God a list of things that we need from him:  it is a time where we learn to draw on His strength, His guidance, and His wisdom.