Yesterday our pastor was speaking somewhere else, so one of our other teachers preached the sermons. Last night he talked about something very sad: There are times when you can use up your last chance with God.
In Numbers 13-14, we see the children of Israel have finally come to the Promised Land. They found it was just as good as God had told them it would be, but then they noticed the opposition within it. So they did what we often do. Instead of trusting the God who had done huge, visible miracles and had been going with them the entire time, they looked at the opposition in light of what they thought they could do, and decided they couldn’t go into the Promised Land. They let their fear of the unknown paralyze them and keep them from fully following God. They forgot what God had already done. Once they decided they didn’t want to go into the Promised Land (with the exception of Caleb and Joshua), God was understandably very angry. God had been taking care of them this whole time and wanted to give them something wonderful, and they threw it all in His face. They even wanted to go back to Egypt and become slaves again!
At this point, God said enough was enough. This wasn’t the first time these people had complained about what He was doing, but it was certainly going to be the last. If they didn’t want to go into the Promised Land, then they wouldn’t. God said that none of the adults who had refused the Promised Land would get to go in, but their children would go in, and Joshua and Caleb would go in. In the meantime, everyone would wander around in travel for forty years until all the adults had died and the children were grown. Everyone mourned at what they’d done.
The next morning, they all decided they were wrong and that they would go into the Promised Land the way God had told them. But God said no. God told them not to go, and that if they did go, they’d be beaten by the opposition. God wasn’t going with them. They went anyway, God didn’t go with them, and they were beaten and had to retreat. They had used their last chance, and they weren’t going into the Promised Land. God was done with them, and now they had no purpose.
The preacher then talked about how that must have felt. Imagine looking your children in the eyes, knowing you’ve failed them. God is done with you, and the only thing you’re doing now is walking around in circles for forty years until you die. The preacher then cautioned us not to become an example used as a warning. When God calls us to do something, whether it’s coming to salvation by believing in Jesus, stepping out into ministry, or talking to someone about Jesus, we should do it. If we let it pass us by and do nothing because we’re afraid or too busy, we may never get that chance again. There are people who have let such chances pass them by, and they have never had those chances again. They went the rest of their lives, whether short or long, without another chance at what God had called them to do.
While God is certainly the God of many second chances, there must ultimately come a time when God respects your decision and leaves you to do exactly what you wanted without Him. God will do everything to show you how special you are and how much He loves you, He will do everything to show you how much can be done for His glory and how you can participate, but if you tell Him you don’t want Him or His plan, then He’ll let you have exactly what you want.
Related:
Love Gives Every Chance
“But Isn’t God Nice?”
God Respecting Your Decision