The King Who Found God in Chains | When Affliction Becomes a Doorway
Devotional By: N. Hugh - Contributing Writer
Date: 22 March 2025
Devotional: The King Who Found God in Chains
Welcome to Today’s Devotional, Focusing on: 2 Chronicles 33:12.
Today’s Scripture:
12: “And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers..”2 Chronicles 33:12.
He had everything—a throne, a kingdom, a godly legacy. And he traded it all for idols.
Manasseh, king of Judah, wasn’t a stranger to truth. His father, King Hezekiah, was one of the most faithful rulers in Judah’s history. But Manasseh rebelled—building pagan altars, worshiping idols, and even defiling the temple of the Lord. Pride hardened his heart, and darkness followed.
Then came the affliction
Dragged away in shackles to Babylon, Manasseh sat in a prison far from power. But in that dark place—where the air stank of rust and rot—something broke open in him. He humbled himself and cried out to the God of his fathers. And God listened.
What looked like defeat became the doorway to restoration.
The Gift Hidden in Affliction
Affliction can feel like punishment—but often, it’s mercy in disguise.
Like a storm that clears the smog, suffering strips away our illusions. It’s often in the silence of pain—not the noise of comfort—that we finally hear God.
Think about your own life
Have you ever found clarity in the middle of crisis? Was it after a loss, a breakup, or a failure that you turned back to God?
Sometimes the greatest spiritual breakthroughs happen in life’s lowest places.
From Ruin to Restoration
Here’s the grace-filled truth: God heard Manasseh. The man who once mocked God was restored—not just to a throne, but to relationship.
“God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.” — James 4:6 (KJV)
Manasseh’s story reminds us: No one is too far gone. God doesn’t cancel the broken. He restores the humbled.
Practical Reflections
- Pause and Reflect: Have you experienced affliction that led to spiritual growth? Don’t waste that pain—let it deepen your walk with God.
- Humble Yourself Early: You don’t have to wait for a breakdown. Surrender now. Ask God to show you where pride is hiding.
- Look for the Manassehs: Know someone who seems too far gone? Keep praying. Their prison moment might be the start of their restoration.
- Share Your Story: If God met you in your lowest place, someone else needs to hear it. Your testimony could be their turning point.
Lets Pray
O Lord God of mercy and truth,
I come before Thee in humility of heart, confessing that I have often trusted in mine own strength and strayed from Thy paths.
Yet I thank Thee, that even in affliction, Thou dost not forsake Thy children.
Like Manasseh, I have known the prison of pride, the darkness of my own way. But in Thy lovingkindness, Thou hast called me back unto Thee.
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Teach me to seek Thee not only in trial, but daily—delighting in Thy will, resting in Thy grace.
Use even the storms of life to draw me nearer to Thine heart. And let not my pain be wasted, but transformed for Thy glory.
I yield myself to Thee now, trusting not in mine own righteousness, but in the mercy of Christ Jesus, in whose name I pray.
Amen.
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Share This Devotional
No matter how messy your past, how deep the pit, or how long you've been running—God is not finished with you. He meets us in affliction not to condemn, but to restore.
Who in your life needs to hear that truth today? Share this with them. It might be the seed of their healing.
Thank you for joining today’s devotional brought to you by Sacred Thoughts.
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