A Second Chance Savior

My God is a God of second chances. And not just second chances. He is more than willing to give you five, six, seven, or even seventy.

Throughout the Bible God used second-chance sinners. No one is perfect, but it often seemed like God always chose His less-than-holy saints, the individuals whose souls were like cracked vessels. What man would have chosen to discard, God opted to redeem.

The Bible is full of misfits who were desperately in need of redemption. Misfits whose lives were transformed into miracles.

Tamar
When Tamar’s husband died leaving her childless, she got desperate. Really desperate. So desperate that she resorted to the sin of incest with her father-in-law just to prove a point.

God had a special plan for one of the twins she gave birth to in Genesis 38, and the circumstances surrounding Pharez’s birth paled in comparison with God’s own purpose.

The beginning of Tamar’s tale started off a bit rocky, but when one of Pharez’ descendants, Boaz, planned to marry another misfit named Ruth (keep reading for more on her), the people of Bethlehem proclaimed that Boaz and Ruth’s home would be blessed “. . . like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah.”

Rahab
Rahab was a prostitute. Need I say more? She was a woman of ill-repute, but it was Rahab’s reputation that saved the spies and helped the Israelites conquer Jericho. As a woman of the town, she knew everything about the town, including the habits of the soldiers sent to pursue the two spies.

God took a sinner, a person most of us would shudder to be associated with and used her mightily for His kingdom. And as if that were not enough, He chose her to be a matriarch in the line of not only King David, but Jesus Christ himself.

Ruth
Ruth was a loyal daughter-in-law, but that was about all she had going for her in the eyes of the Israelites. Of a race known to the Jews as akin to the scum on the bottom of the pond, Ruth was not going to win any popularity contests or be voted as Mrs. Bethlehem. But what does man know?

The woman who was the outcast, the reprobate, and the town’s resident “heathen” went on to marry one of the most influential men of the city in one of history’s most timeless love stories. Talk about a fairy tale romance.

Mary Magdalene
Scholars have debated for years over the truth surrounding Mary Magdalene’s life, but one thing we know for certain—-she was not Webster’s definition of a saint. The Bible specifically tells us that Jesus cast seven devils out of her.

A former haven for devils became one of Jesus’ most loyal followers. I find it incredibly meaningful that when Christ rose from the dead, He did not immediately appear to Peter, James, or even John, the man known as the disciple whom Jesus loved. His first hello went to Mary Magdalene.

If God could use these four women with their baggage, heartbreak, and failures, can you imagine what is He waiting to do in your life? Draw comfort from the words of 1 Corinthians 2:9: