A second time
The word comes to Jonah again
After Jonah fled his commission, was swallowed, and was delivered, Scripture records four of the most gracious words in the Bible: the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time. The God who first called him — whom he had disobeyed and run from — came back with the same call again. The failure and the flight did not cancel the calling; God renewed it.
This is the grace of the second call. Jonah had failed spectacularly — not a small stumble but outright rebellion and flight from God. And God's response, after the discipline, was to call him again to the very task he had abandoned. For a leader who has failed in his calling, this is profound hope: God is the God of the second call. Failure in a task does not necessarily end your usefulness in it; God often comes a second time to the one who fled the first. The disqualification you assume after failure may not be God's verdict at all.
“Go, tell his disciples and Peter, He goes before you into Galilee.”
— The angel, naming Peter — Mark 16:7 (WEB)
God is the God of the second call. Failure in a task does not necessarily end your usefulness in it; he often comes again to the one who fled the first time.
“The word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying...”
God renewed Jonah’s calling after his flight. A leader formed here refuses to treat his own failure as the end of his calling. The inner work is openness to a second call rather than self-imposed disqualification.
Do not assume failure has ended your calling; watch for God’s second call. Offer second calls to others who have failed, as God did Jonah and Peter. Lead from restored commission, not from permanent disqualification.
Leaders assume a failure permanently ends their calling and never expect a second call. The blind spot is mistaking their own verdict for God’s.
If a failure has convinced you your calling is over, this week stay open to God’s second call rather than declaring yourself disqualified.
Jonah failed spectacularly — not a small stumble but outright flight from God. And God's response, after the discipline, was to call him again to the very task he had abandoned.
Has a failure convinced you that your calling is over, when God may yet be coming to you a second time?