We often wonder why we have stress and distress in our lives. We like to think that we all deserve a life of ease and conflict is for the other guy. There is no doubt that sometimes we are "innocent" and don't deserve the pain we get but that determines you belief on the word "innocent". In God's eyes all men are guilty and deserve eternal punishment. When you start with that premise you can better understand the pain in the world but few want to believe that "all" are guilty. The world tends to start with the premise that all men are innocent until they do something deemed by their fellow man to be wrong. God doesn't work that way. In our passage about King Manasseh, King of Judah, we find that he established a different type of worship throughout the nation. To the world's standards he would be applauded for his religious prowess and his generosity. To man he was enabling his fellow citizens and doing good deeds. To God He was violating God's Word and deserved correction. God actually sent prophets to him to speak for God but Manasseh didn't listen. That is when God used stress and distress to get Manasseh's attention by sending other armies to fight against him and conquer him. Note the king's response:
2 Chronicles 33:12
When he was in distress, he entreated the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.
God gives us plenty of chances to repent and respond to Him that are less painful. But, often the reason we have distress in our lives is that God wants to get our attention and bring us back toward Him. As a result of his repentance, Manasseh becomes a good king for God. One of the few who turn in repentance toward God. But, it took an army of destruction to wake him up. What will it take to wake us up to the failure to follow God and to repent and return to Him? Note what happens to Manasseh after his repentance:
2 Chronicles 33:13
When he prayed to Him, He was moved by his entreaty and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God.
That can happen to anyone who returns to God.
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