God Loves Do-Overs
You can have a fresh start at life.
By Dr. Dan Erickson
Focus Magazine Fall 2007
Every boy who has scampered across a playground or jumped into a backyard ball game is familiar with the phrase.
Maybe a ball lodged in a tree branch or sailed over a roof, stifling the game. Or a play may have been so controversial that everything ground to a halt while agreement was sought.
Either way, often the only recourse was for a grubby grade school kid to scream “Do-over!” That magic phrase gave the elementary school athlete a new lease on life and set the world at peace once more.
Do-overs allowed us to subvert the laws of physics and time by turning back the clock and erasing what had just happened.
“It is with fond memories that we recall the do-over, a divine method of resolution, and contemplate the untold blessings it could bring if it were somehow extended into our (adult) lives,” observes the Web site Streetplay.com.
Based on its references in popular culture, there appears to be universal appeal to the idea of a grown-up do-over.
In the 2006 movie Déjà Vu, Denzel Washington plays an ATF agent who uses newfound technology to re-live the past in an effort to stop a terrorist act.
A more lighthearted reference is the 2002 sitcom Do Over. Joel Larson is a discontented 34-year-old salesman whose life is turned upside down by a freak accident. When he regains consciousness, Larson finds himself in his teenage body. Retaining his adult wisdom, he strives to save his dysfunctional family from their previous plight.
“Do Over’s premise invites intellectual speculation about what a man or woman could accomplish if they had a chance to ‘do it all over again,’” observes Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia.
Fortunately for Christians, no speculation is required. A do-over is possible.
The good news of the gospel is that God offers us a fresh start irrespective of our age and the number of skeletons in our closet. Although we can’t transcend time and rewrite our personal history, we can use the wisdom of lessons learned and the favor of God to start over.
Instead of giving up when we fail, the Bible tells us we can “approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Heb. 4:16).
Viewing life through God’s lens
Our emotions may tell us that we aren’t good enough for God -- that we’ve squandered too many opportunities. We may feel we are beyond the realm of a do-over and therefore should do nothing. But we must look beyond our emotions to the truth of the Scriptures.
We can have another chance because God never gives up on us. In fact, He counted on the entire human race needing a do-over. That is why He sent Christ to die and rise again on our behalf. Because of the forgiveness of God, every day can be a new beginning.
It’s tempting for us to think, “Yes, but you don’t know what I’ve done.” Well, I don’t know, but God does. And the Scriptures tell us that He has “unlimited patience” (1 Tim. 1:16). The miracle of Christianity is that God, who knows our darkest secrets, loves us more than any human being ever could.
With Him, a new life is possible.
The Message version of 2 Cor. 5:17 says “anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons!”
Romans 8:31 tells us that “God is for us.” He is for everyone who trusts in Him for forgiveness. And, as the verse also says, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”
We can put aside any notions that, as followers of Christ, we must give up and resign ourselves to lives of uselessness and brokenness. It has been God’s plan from the beginning to allow us to start anew.
Our lives may bear the scars of broken relationships, addictions and unforgiveness. But there is hope. Maybe even more than we ever dreamed possible. Our heavenly Father longs to restore us and give us a new beginning (Luke 15).
God is able to take even the most distressing circumstances and use them for our good (Romans 8:28).
He loves us so much that He accepts us right where we are. But He loves us too much to leave us there. When we seek a do-over, we can count on God working in us to help us become more like Him.
Starting anew
Unlike getting a second at bat in a game of softball, adult do-overs aren’t all fun and games.
We must start with humility. That means admitting to God that we have failed Him. This is coming clean about our sins and mistakes without blaming circumstances or others. It’s the essential first step in any do-over.
Next, we need to share our confession with a trusted friend. It’s impossible to do an effective do-over all alone. This friend can pray for us and urge us on when we feel like throwing in the towel.
In addition, we may need to ask for forgiveness from someone we have wronged. If we need a do-over in our parenting or marriage, then we may need to ask our children or spouse for forgiveness and to let them know we are seeking a new start.
These acts of confession give us a clean slate, sort of like when an umpire takes out his brush and cleans off home. Proverbs 28:13 tells us: “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”
But a do-over doesn’t stop there. Not only was the previous play cancelled, but a new one takes its place.
God has had a plan for each of us from the beginning of time. He has designed us with our own spiritual DNA. We have a unique fingerprint of potential that is waiting to be discovered, developed and deployed. There is a God-sized need that, with His help, each of us is called to meet.
This is clear in Eph. 2:10: “For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
God not only calls us away from sin, but toward participation in His world-changing mission.
As I speak across the country, I am meeting more and more people who have decided to get off of the sidelines and get into the game of life the way God intended. Many felt their failures or marital status had disqualified them from any meaningful service to God.
Now they know better and are making a difference in their churches, communities and world.
God declares in Jer. 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you … plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
God is eager to partner with us in our do-over.
The question is, will we join Him? If we do, we will be able to agree with the Psalmist:
“God made my life complete when I placed all the pieces before him. When God helped me get my act together, He gave me a fresh start. Now I'm alert to God's ways; I don't take God for granted. Every day I review the ways He works; I try not to miss a trick. I feel put back together, and I'm watching my step. God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes” (Ps. 18:20-24, “The Message”).
Dr. Dan Erickson, author of “Finding Your Greater Yes!” (Thomas Nelson Publishers) is chief servant leader of People Matter Ministries (www.peoplematterministries.com).