Taking Stock - King Manasseh

While in deep distress, Manasseh sought the LORD his God and sincerely humbled himself before the God of his ancestors. And when he prayed, the LORD listened to him and was moved by his request.

2 Chronicles 33:12-13

At his yearly physical, a middle-aged man who had always thought of himself as healthy was stunned to learn that all was not well with his body. Somehow, twenty-five pounds of extra weight had crept up, he had dangerously high blood pressure, and his years of smoking had damaged his lungs.

If he didn’t make some changes, his doctor told him, he was a prime candidate for a stroke. In the days that followed, the man began to take stock of what he had allowed to happen to his body and what it might mean to him, his wife, and his children if he didn’t make some changes.

He made those changes.

Times of stress can motivate a man to do a little self-examination. Manasseh, the evil king of Judah, had that experience.

Manasseh was the righteous King Hezekiah’s son and successor, but he was hardly a “chip off the old block.” Manasseh made sinning into a personal art form by persecuting those who worshiped the true God, reestablishing the idolatry his father had abolished, and practicing soothsaying and sorcery.

God warned Manasseh that he would pay a price for his sins, but Manasseh refused to listen. Finally, Assyrian forces invaded Judah and took him away to Babylon, where he remained for twelve years suffering atrocious treatment at his captor’s hands.

God had given Manasseh a chance to take stock of his life.

This once proud, idolatrous man humbled himself before God and repented of all his evil. The light came on as Manasseh finally realized, “The LORD alone is God!” (2 Chronicles 33:13).

God returned Manasseh to Jerusalem, where he did his best to undo the damage he had done. He was a changed man, from the inside out.

Has God shown you things about yourself that need to change? Our loving, gracious God reveals our imperfections in order to change and transform those who surrender to him.