Ready:

“The LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they didn’t listen. So he brought against them the military commanders of the king of Assyria. They captured Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon. When he was in distress, he sought the favor of the LORD his God and earnestly humbled himself before the God of his ancestors. He prayed to him, and the LORD was receptive to his prayer. He granted his request and brought him back to Jerusalem, to his kingdom. So Manasseh came to know that the LORD is God.” – 2 Chronicles 33:10-13

Set:

Manasseh became a ruler in Jerusalem at 12 years old. His dad Hezekiah wasn’t perfect but he did have a relationship with God that influenced his decision making as king. Manasseh, on the other hand “caused Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to stray so that they did worse evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites,” (2 Chronicles 33:9). Manasseh had plenty of instruction to learn from his father’s ways, but when it came time for him to reign, he wanted to do things his own way. So, God put him on the bench.

Manasseh had the opportunity to play in the game, but when he started doing more damage than good- it was time for him to sit. Granted, a dungeon versus a bench- clearly one is more severe. But Manasseh was sent to the dungeon to repent. He needed time to sit in his actions. And in that time of distress, he turned to the Lord and humbled himself. And what happened? God heard his prayer and granted his request.

Humbling ourselves on the bench is the best use of our time; self-reflecting to see what’s working and what’s not working. For Manasseh, he didn’t blame anyone else for his actions that landed him in his time of distress. It’s not recorded that he cursed God or blamed God for being captured. It’s only recorded that he went to God for help. So many times when we get benched, we blame the coach, another player or even the game officials. Even Manasseh in his evilness knew that the person to blame for his actions was himself. And the person to go to for help was God.

What might our bench moments look like if we had the humility of Manasseh to humble ourselves and have a conversation with the coach about our actions? The coach might just put us back in the game. The most inspiring part of Manasseh’s story is that although he did more evil than many of the kings combined, God still chose to offer mercy to him and when he repented, God restored the kingdom to him. And in response to that mercy, Manasseh went back and righted many of his wrongs.

Go:

1. In what ways are you denying the wisdom and instruction of those before you in order to do things your own way?

2. On your team, are you doing more damage than good?

3. How might you need to humble yourself today in light of Manasseh’s story?

Workout:

Overtime: