So one ordinary day, you stop.
You're too tired to climb and too tired to hide, and the only thing left is the truth. You brace for the lecture you've been expecting for years. Instead, you turn around, and He's standing there.
The Question Peter Asked
Peter once tried to put a number on grace. Matthew 18:21-22: "Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, 'Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?' Jesus answered, 'I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.'"
Peter thought seven was generous. Jesus' answer wasn't a bigger number to count to. It was an instruction to stop counting.
If that's what Jesus asks of us, imagine how much more it's true of Him.
The Misconception: You've Used Up Your Chances
Most people who've walked with God for a while carry a quiet fear that there's a limit somewhere. They believe they've gone back to the same thing one too many times, and that one day God's patience is going to run out.
But you lost count of your chances a long time ago. This isn't your second one. It's your hundredth, or your thousandth, or your millionth. Every time you fell, He was already there.
That's the heart of "A Million Chances." Jamie MacDonald and Tori Kelly sing about falling down again, wanting to throw in the towel, and finding that God loves to use the broken pieces. Then the chorus turns the whole song around: no mess puts you past too late, because when you turn around, He's standing there, handing out chances by the million.
One honest caution: grace isn't permission to keep running. It's the reason you can finally stop.
He Doesn't Keep Score
This week's memory verse is the center of the whole arc. Psalm 103:10: "He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities."
Two verses later, David explains where the list went. Psalm 103:12: "As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us."
The list you kept all those years? He never kept one.
So this week, write down the thing you keep replaying. Then tear it up. He already did.
This is Chapter Four of CHANCE AFTER CHANCE. Catch up on the first three chapters, or come back tomorrow for the finale.
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