If you have been with me a while you will know I love the story of Jonah. Sometimes I wonder if there is a bit of Jonah in all of us, at least one or two of his characteristics, usually at an inconvenient or inappropriate moment. Perhaps you can relate to Jonah today, which is why I have written this as a Saturday special so that on Sunday morning you will be at your best; ransomed, healed, restored and forgiven - not on probation, fully there, restored, your best version of you (in Christ). In your worst moment you may think you’ve blown it for good. Not just stumbled – torched the bridge, sunk the ship, burned the church T-shirt. That one moment, that one bad choice, and you’re sure it’s over. You replay it in your head like a Spotify tune on loop, and the verdict is always the same: you’re done.
Jonah knew that soundtrack. God told him to go to Nineveh. Jonah ran the other way. God hurled a storm at the boat. The sailors hurled Jonah into the sea. Then the fish swallowed him whole. Three nights in darkness, breathing in decay, and then the fish spat him onto dry land – no carrots, no garnish, just a drenched man who reeked of failure.
And then – this: “Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time” (Jonah 3:1).
A second time. Same call. Same God. Same mission. Jonah had run hard, but God’s mercy ran even harder. Eminem got it wrong - you don’t just get one shot. Not with the Lord.
Your failure isn’t the end. It’s not pretty, it’s not painless, but it’s not final. Abraham lied. David committed adultery and murder. Peter denied Christ. And yet God still used them - not because they cleaned themselves up, but because His grace doesn’t snap under the weight of our sin.
Grace doesn’t pat you on the back and tell you to take it easy. It shoves you back into obedience with the scars still visible like a reluctant fighter forced back into the ring. Jonah still had to walk into Nineveh, no Uber and plenty of time to think, muse, ponder… He still had to say the words God gave him. Limping obedience is better than sitting in the sand telling yourself you’re finished.
You think you’ve wrecked it? Jesus went to the cross knowing exactly what you’d wreck and how many times. He bled for rebels, liars, cowards, and runaways. He died, rose, and still speaks to those who think they’re beyond reach.
When His word comes again - and it will - you don’t negotiate. You get up. You go. And you don’t look back.
Don’t wait for Sunday, you are not on probation - once you have confessed and repented of sin, it’s time to sing, laugh, dance and worship.