Series: Youth for Jesus
Number: Vol. 3, No. 44
“In his distress he sought the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. And when he prayed to him, the LORD was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is God.” (2Chron 33:12-13NIV)
The world we live in is one in which we cannot totally avoid being faced with trouble. I mean that even if we are godly, of the best conduct and know how to relate to others in peace, there is still no guarantee that we won’t be faced with one form of trouble or the other. The only guarantee we have is that, as long as we recognise Jesus as our Lord, we will walk in victory over whatever challenge we may be confronted with in this world. (Cf. John 16:33; 1John 5:4-5)
However, in most cases, the troubles people face in life are brought upon them by themselves. Remember that Solomon says, “God made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves very complicated.” (Ecc 7:29GNT) And that is the case with many people. Through certain bad choices and foolish decisions, they are continually making their lives, which would have been full of rest, joy and meaning, bitter, horrible and meaningless. In short, the decisions and steps some people are daily taking are those that can only keep them in perpetual trouble and pains.
Notwithstanding, even if we have made a mess of our lives through our foolish and bad decisions and steps, we can still experience mercy, forgiveness and restoration, if we will turn to God for help instead of persisting in our foolish ways. And that is one of the things we learnt from the story of one of the kings of Judah named Manasseh.
Now Manasseh was one of the kings that reigned the longest over the people of God, Judah. He reigned over them for fifty-five years. But he used most of those years to do evil. This man was not only wicked to the people; he was also hostile to God. He would not worship God at all, though his father, Hezekiah, loved and worshipped Him all the days of his life. Instead, he worshipped all the starry hosts, converted God’s temple into that of idols, practised sorcery, divination and witchcraft and even offered his sons in the fire to demons. (Cf. 2Chro 33:1-9)
In short, Manasseh gave himself to doing everything God had warned His people not to do and led the whole nation astray. (Cf. Deut 18:9-13) And though he was warned by Him, he paid no attention whatsoever. Therefore, God gave him over to his enemies, so that they could do with him as they wished. They put a hook in his nose, chained him like a commoner criminal and dragged him far away from his kingdom to Babylon. (Cf. 2Chro 33:10-11)
That, of course, should have been the end of that man. But it was not. Why? It was because, as we are told in our opening bible text, in his time of distress, he humbled himself greatly before the Lord and sought His mercy and favour. In other words, this man cried out to God for mercy and help. And did He answer him or not? Oh, He did answer him. In fact, using bible words, God was so moved by his honest and heartfelt prayers that He favoured him and brought him back to Jerusalem and to his throne, so that he ruled and did exploits again.
But what if Manasseh had not called upon God in his time of distress? What if he had continued to relate to God in insolence? Would he have been saved and restored? No! But because he cried out to God for mercy, He answered him and showed him mercy. Mind you, we are talking about an evil and injurious man here. We are talking about a man that God accused of being more wicked that the former inhabitants of the land of Canaan. Yes, we are talking about a man that was accused of polluting the land with innocent blood from end to end. Yet when he cried out to God for mercy, He answered him, forgave him and also restored him. (Cf. 2Kings 21:11&16)
In like manner, if you too will cry out to God for mercy, He will answer you, regardless of what mess you have brought yourself into. And it does not matter whether you are as bad as Manasseh or worse than him. All you need is to stop justifying your wickedness or trying to save yourself. The one who tries to save himself will certainly perish, for no man can save himself. But the one who cast himself on the Lord will receive mercy, salvation and restoration, however wicked or vicious he may be. So, cast yourself on Him now that there is still breath in you, and you will be glad you did.
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