DU OVR

The personalized licenses plate craze seems to be hitting an all time high. I’m not sure what it is about the 9^th floor of the downtown garage I park in each day, but that is where I’ve seen the best ones.  My top five:
            5)   GDLUVU
            4)   FRODO
            3)   ZOMBIE
            2)   OB1
            1)   DU OVR

I  just noticed the DU OVR plate this morning and it instantly stole my heart. I think the fact it’s on a BMW makes me wonder that much more, “Why do you need to DU OVR?”  

Of course everyone could use a do over now and then. This weekend I had the privilege of leading a writing workshop for women who are in recovery. As we went through the day and I heard these women’s stories I could see just how much my life paralleled theirs. I’ve done a lot of the same things that lead them down the path they are on. In the lottery of life I have struggled, but I have also had more breaks than any one person deserves. I have been forgiven, saved by a safety net that was thrown out to catch me even before I had done anything to earn it. I’ve needed more than one do over and I’ve been lucky enough to get more than I can count.

One woman shared her frustration of looking for a job as a convicted felon. “I’m just looking for a do over and that’s hard to come by.”

 

She was just relaying a fact about her situation, not really looking for a response. Honestly I didn’t know what to say because she is right. We don’t give out do overs that easily. We want to limit the number of chances we give people because what they did was so bad.

There was a guy in the Bible who lied once and an entire village was slaughtered as a result. He committed adultery. He murdered. He was a prideful jerk who thought he had all the answers and when he failed, thousands and thousands of people died. 

So what does God say about him: “I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart,”

Did God get it wrong? David ran away and got people killed. How can he be called a man after God's heart?

Because grace is scandalous. Grace does not make sense to our tiny human brains. We can’t control it. We can’t limit the number of do overs people get. And when we try to I think it breaks God’s heart.

The God I serve accepts every repentance and confession. The God I worship works for the good of all humanity. I know a God who delights in you. A God who suffered on a cross not to show the limit of grace, but the expanse of it.