Can I Get A Do Over Please?!

Genesis devotes a large portion to the life of Jacob. It makes sense since through Jacob, the nation of Israel would be cemented. God changes his name from Jacob to Israel. From "supplanter" to "wrestles with God" or "God triumphs". (Genesis 32) However Jacob's life also symbolizes redemption, and that God can allow us a do over.

In Genesis 26 Isaac moves his family to Beersheba after encountering conflict with King Abimelech. In Genesis 27, Jacob ends up deceiving his father Isaac and steals his brother Esau's blessing. Due to fear of Esau's rage, Jacob flees Beersheba. Fast forwarding decades later, in Genesis 41-45, a famine has spread through the region. Jacob and his entire family are moving to safety in Egypt. Where is the last place it's mentioned he stops before Egypt? Beersheba!

In Genesis 46:1-4 it says "So Jacob set out for Egypt with all his possessions. And when he came to Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father, Isaac. During the night God spoke to him in a vision. “Jacob! Jacob!” he called. “Here I am,” Jacob replied. “I am God, the God of your father,” the voice said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make your family into a great nation. I will go with you down to Egypt, and I will bring you back again. You will die in Egypt, but Joseph will be with you to close your eyes.”'

Decades earlier Beersheba was where Jacob started a lifestyle of deception. Beersheba is where he caused a rift between himself and his brother. Beersheba is where he listened to the voice of his mother and concocted a plan to deceive his own father. Beersheba is where he fled for his life. Beersheba represented all the things you'd want to forget.

Now in Genesis 46 he returns a changed man. Instead of listening to deception, Beersheba becomes a place he seeks God's direction. He's no longer fleeing, he's waiting on God. He offers sacrifices to God at Beersheba, redeeming a place he tainted by his lack of respect for God. Now in this place, God speaks to him and gives him aide. God helps Jacob in Beersheba, the same place Jacob was only out to help himself years before.

God does give do overs. Do overs are opportunities for redemption and remember God is the ultimate Redeemer. He is able to turn places in our lives that symbolized pain, conflict, wrong choices, and even sin, into something worthwhile. He is able to turn places of darkness into places of light.

In the book of Zechariah, God gives him a vision of the Temple being completed. The Israelites had been exiled and the Temple had been reduced to rubble as a result of their sin. In the natural, rebuilding the Temple seemed impossible. However in Zechariah 4:6-7, God gives Israel hope and a promise of redemption that Zerubbabel would help complete the rebuilding.

"So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty. “What are you, mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of ‘God bless it! God bless it!’ ”

Maybe you need a do over. Maybe you need God to redeem a physical or symbolic place that represents an emotional and spiritual scar. Maybe you need to return from a place you ran from God and now seek Him. Maybe you need God to rebuild the rubble of your past. Maybe you need to yell "God Bless it! God Bless it!" over an area that felt anything but blessed. Whatever it is, whatever you've done, God is able to give you a do over. He is able to turn around what seems immovable. He is able to turn your mountain into a plain. He is able to make the impossible possible, but remember it's not by our strength, our power, our abilities, or what we can contribute. God's Spirit living in us allows us to do this. We need His power to fix messes we've made or others left for us to clean up. We need His Spirit to change things. Ask Him to show you what your do over looks like. Ask Him to redeem your Beersheba.