We all have opportunities that we’ve missed and times when we failed. We knew God had given us a dream, a great spouse to love, a door that had opened, but we let distractions and compromise get us off course. We look back and think, “What could I have become if I would have been more disciplined, controlled my temper, finished school, or forgiven that person?” It’s easy to live in regrets and think our life is limited because of past choices. We knew better; if only we’d done better. The good news is, God is the God of another chance. He’s full of mercy. When we don’t deserve it, He steps in and says, “I’m giving you another chance to have a great relationship, to accomplish the dream, to step into your purpose. It’s not too late.”
When Moses was leading the Israelites toward the Promised Land, God took him to the top of Mount Sinai and encompassed the mountain in a great cloud, with lightning and a thunderstorm. It was a powerful, holy, majestic moment when the finger of God inscribed the Ten Commandments on two stone tablets for the Israelites. I’m sure Moses was awestruck. But when he went back down the mountain and saw the Israelites worshipping a golden calf, he was so angry that he raised the stone tablets, something sacred that God had entrusted to him, and he smashed them into pieces.
How many of us have mishandled something incredibly valuable that God has given us? Perhaps we let our anger, our pride, our having to be right, tear a precious relationship apart. We mishandled the career God gave us. We gave in to compromise and lost our integrity. If God gave us what we deserve, we would be done. But God is the God of another chance. He said to Moses, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones and come up to Me on the mountain. I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke” (Deuteronomy 10:1–2). God said, in effect, “Moses, you smashed something sacred. You mishandled something priceless. But if you go back up the mountain, I’ll give it to you again.”
You may have missed opportunities, damaged relationships, mismanaged the blessing and favor on your life. But if you go back up that mountain, if you start believing again, God is going to give you back what you thought was broken, what you messed up. God has another chance coming. He is saying, “Meet Me on the mountain.” Don’t let guilt or regrets keep you from going back up. You may have thrown it down, but He knows how to put it back together. He’s going to restore what you threw down.