Publisher:
Our Daily Bread Ministries
© 2012 Our Daily Bread Ministries. All rights reserved.
Authors: Isaac Tan and Rachel Ang
Artist: Lim Zhi Chuan
Art Directors: Alex Soh and Neo Beng Poh
Editors: Alyson Kieda, Chia Poh Fang, Tracy Phua, Sim Kay Tee
Special Thanks: Nicholas Kwong Lic-Kae
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
OVERCOMING A BAD START
Despite Manasseh’s monstrous wickedness, the Lord was still Manasseh’s God. Although anger swept across God’s face, He never turned away His eyes. Manasseh was not forsaken.
In Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Tom laments, “I’s wicked I is—mighty wicked. Anyhow I can’t help it!” Sin is our nature. It’s how we make our way through life—and we can’t help it. Yet our repeated failures do not change God’s fundamental disposition toward us. If it’s our nature to sin, it’s His nature to save. Without that understanding we could never survive our sin. It would only terrorize us and drive us away from God.
We’d have grounds for that terror if God had chosen us in the beginning because we were so wonderful. But since our original acceptance did not depend on anything in us, it cannot be undone by anything in us now. Nothing in us deserved His favor before our conversion; nothing in us merits its continuation.
God saved us because He determined to do so. He created us for Himself, and without that fellowship His heart aches in loneliness. That’s why Christ suffered for us—“the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring [us] to God” (1 Peter 3:18). He will never give up. He loves us too much to give up. “He who began a good work in [us] will carry it on to completion” (Philippians 1:6).
We must accept God’s full and free forgiveness, and then forget ourselves. That we are sinners is undeniably true. That we are forgiven sinners is undeniable as well. We must not dwell on our sinfulness. God’s heart is open to us. We must take what forgiveness we need and get on with life.
There is more. God not only forgives our sin, He uses it to make us better than ever before. Consider Manasseh. He was released from prison after 12 years and restored to his throne. Then he set out to strengthen his defenses. He demonstrated true repentance.
True repentance involves a fundamental change in our outlook and attitude. It is not mere sorrow over sin. It is a radical reversal of
our thinking. It will manifest itself in a determined effort to strengthen ourselves in those areas where we are weak and where we have fallen before. There will be a fierce determination to guard ourselves against sin.
True repentance will mean staying away from the company of men or women whose influence corrupts us. It will mean staying out of situations in which we’re inclined to stumble and fall. It will mean staying away from polluting influences in movies, books, magazines, and cyberspace. It will mean finding another person to hold us accountable. Whatever it means, our waywardness will have made us stronger and better than ever before. Even from our sin God can draw good.
Manasseh was a glorious example to Israel of God’s unimaginable grace. God will do the same for you.
Extracted from the Discovery Series booklet David & Manasseh: Overcoming Failure
In a true riches-to-rags story, King Manasseh was a man with a godly heritage who chose to walk down the path of wickedness. He committed some of the worse atrocities in Israel‛s history and invited God‛s wrath. However, despite Manasseh‛s monstrous sins, the Lord was still Manasseh‛s God. Although anger swept across God‛s face, He never turned away His eyes. Manasseh was not forsaken. Manasseh became for us a glorious example of God‛s unimaginable grace.
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