Have you watched a loved one run from the Father’s arms straight into the one who has come only to kill, steal, and destroy? Have you felt pangs of hopelessness creep in over time? Or maybe felt that the Lord’s arm is too short to reach them (a lie from the enemy himself)?
If yes, then we just want to proclaim the truth that nobody is too far from the loving arm of God.
The story of Manasseh recapped in 2 Chronicles 33 is written in the chronological tellings of the kings of Judah. And Manasseh was the worst of them all, leading Judah astray “to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the people of Israel.” Manasseh’s list of sins was long, and his cares for the ways of God were none. The Lord spoke to him and the people but neither paid any attention. So God, in His sovereignty, allowed the king of Assyria to invade, bind Manasseh, and take him to Babylon.
In his deep anxiety and sorrow, Manasseh cried out to the Lord and humbled himself before God. And God in His grace and great compassion, saved Manasseh. This forever changed Manasseh. The Lord was God, the altars of foreign gods and idols were taken down, and the altar of the Lord was restored. His allegiance to the world was no longer, for he knew and followed the truth.
When God’s wrath had been proclaimed, the Lord was not yet done with Manasseh. In the brutality of his sins and apathy toward God, God’s hand was still long enough to redeem him. God’s arm is not too short for you, for those you love, for those in power, and those who seem impossible to reach. Keep hoping in our Almighty God. Keep praying for revival in the hearts of those who are far. Keep seeking the abundant life that is only found in the presence of Jesus Christ our Lord.