Devotion

There’s a game I have on my mobile phone called ‘Retry’. The simple idea is to land your plane without crashing. It is simple – but so frustrating! You crash. A lot. But the whole point is you try again. And again. And again. The game is all about learning from mistakes, adjusting, improving, staying committed and never giving up.

Like a time in your life that you kept failing at but refused to give up. And that great feeling when you finally succeeded!

Thankfully, this game Retry simply describes exactly how God works. God doesn’t expect us to be perfect, He expects that we will fail over and over again. However, He also expects us to get back up again, and again, trusting Him for a fresh start! He is a God of second chances.

For example, in the book of Jonah we hear the story of Jonah, who was called by God to go to Ninevah to tell the locals about God and remind them of their mistakes… but Jonah chose door number 2. He wasn’t a fan of this idea and decided to get on a boat for Tarshish instead. Jonah ran away from God, but God didn’t give up on him. Famously, we know that God then introduced Jonah to a big fish to get his attention. When Jonah finally obeyed, God still used him powerfully. God doesn’t cancel – or reject - people because of failure. He restores and reuses them.

But God doesn’t just give us a second chance—He also asks us to fully trust Him when we move forward.

It also reminds me of a great story from 1519, when Spanish explorer Hernán Cortés landed in Mexico with 600 men. Their mission was to conquer the powerful Aztecs and plunder the legendary treasures of the Aztec people.

But his men were afraid - the easy option was to turn back to their safe, comfortable ships. “why go when we have everything here?” They refused his orders. So, Cortés made an insanely radical decision. He gave the orders to burn their boats. Yes, the ships they came on. No option. No escape. No turning back. No door number 2. His men had one choice - move forward with courage and trust. Needless to say, because of their full commitment, they succeeded. What an amazing true story and example of the way God wants us to live.

When we keep running back to the past, we can’t step into the future God has for us.

In Proverbs 3:5-6, King Solomon reminds us:

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight."

King Solomon encourages us to let go of past failures and focus on what’s ahead. He reminds us that being a Christian is about progress and persistence that stems from our confidence in Christ.

Move forward in faith. Burn your boats.

Lenten Services at Good Shepherd

You are warmly invited to join us here at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church for Lenten services on Wednesdays 19th March and 2nd April. Services begin at 7:30pm. Look forward to seeing you!

Sunday Service Times at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church

2025 Worship Song Playlist

Do you find yourself wondering what songs we sing in Wednesday Worship? Do your children come home singing some of the songs? We would like to invite you to our Good Shepherd School Worship Song Playlist on YouTube. To find a selection of songs that we sing, click here and start singing along!