Finding God through the pain of 2025!

Devotional

Day 1: Let God Lead When Pain Blocks Your View

When pain sits heavy on the heart, it narrows your vision and makes yesterday’s wounds feel like tomorrow’s forecast. God invites you to bring the ache to Him instead of burying it, because buried pain becomes a steering wheel in the wrong hands. Like Manasseh, when affliction stripped away the illusions, a humbled prayer opened the door to mercy and restoration. You don’t have to understand everything to pray honestly; you only need to turn toward the One who already sees you. Today, choose a simple prayer: “Lord, help me,” and let that be the first step toward a new direction. God still hears, still restores, and still leads people home. [37:53]

2 Chronicles 33:12–13
When he was crushed by trouble, Manasseh finally sought the Lord, lowering himself before the God his fathers had known. God paid attention, received his plea, and brought him back to Jerusalem and to his throne. In that moment, Manasseh realized that the Lord truly is God.

Reflection: What pain have you quietly buried this year that you need to speak to God about today, and what words will you use to begin that honest prayer?

Day 2: Trust Beyond What You Understand

Loss can tempt you to question God’s heart, but trust grows when you lean on Him instead of your own explanations. Acceptance is not indifference; it is saying “Yes, Lord” even when your path includes valleys you would not have chosen. God is not trying to push you down but to lead you forward, even when grief is fresh and answers are few. Refuse the “why me” spiral and ask instead, “Keep me, guide me, and use me.” Trust opens a way where pain cannot. [43:10]

Proverbs 3:5–6
Place your full weight on the Lord, not on your limited understanding. In every choice and pathway, acknowledge Him, and He will clear and straighten the road before you.

Reflection: In one specific area of loss or confusion, where are you leaning on your own understanding, and what concrete act of trust will you practice this week?

Day 3: Silence The Wrong Voices, Hear God’s Voice

Not every voice around you was sent by God; pain makes us vulnerable to influences that sound strong but steer us wrong. Sometimes love looks like God removing the crowd so you can finally hear Him in the quiet. When the noise fades, memories of faithful prayers and past mercies begin to speak again. Ask the Holy Spirit for discernment, because appearances deceive and not every “helpful” friend is helpful to your soul. God’s presence is inescapable, even in the darkest cell or the loneliest night. He has been near all along, waiting for your yes. [48:28]

Psalm 139:7–10
Where could I go to escape Your presence? If I climb high or go low, if I cross oceans or hide in the farthest place, Your hand still reaches me. Your right hand holds me fast and guides me home.

Reflection: What is one specific voice (a habit, feed, or relationship) that dulls your awareness of God, and how will you limit it so you can listen for Him this week?

Day 4: Bring Your Burden To Jesus, Not To Numbing

When hearts are bruised, counterfeits promise peace—bottles, pills, rage, or distractions—but they cannot carry a soul. Jesus invites the weary to come as they are and lay down what they cannot lift. Real strength is not pretending you’re fine; it’s kneeling to receive rest and direction from the One who died to help you. Don’t carry your burden to the altar and pick it back up on the way out; leave it in His hands. He gives rest that steadies the mind and reshapes the path. [55:17]

Matthew 11:28–30
Come to Me, all who are worn out and weighed down, and I will give you rest. Walk and learn from Me—I am gentle and humble—and you will find rest deep within. My yoke fits well and My burden is light.

Reflection: When you feel the pull to escape pain through a specific coping behavior, what prayerful alternative will you choose instead, and at what moment will you choose it?

Day 5: Start The New Year With Surrendered Hope

You don’t have to carry last year’s hurt into the next season; grace invites you to finish with prayer and begin with praise. Surrender is not defeat—it is the doorway to guidance, peace, and renewed purpose. Thank God in advance for the healing, the provision, and the changed attitude He is already working in you. Step into the new season lighter, with a clean slate and a willing heart. God’s hands are open; so should yours be. [59:29]

1 Peter 5:7
Unload every worry into His care, because you matter to Him more than you know, and He is faithful to hold what you cannot.

Reflection: What single hurt from this past year will you hand to Jesus in a one-sentence prayer of surrender, and what small step will you take this week that aligns with that surrender?

Sermon Summary

This New Year call to worship centers on letting God lead when pain blocks the view. Drawing from 2 Chronicles 33, the journey of Manasseh—who lost his godly father Hezekiah at age twelve—illustrates how grief, confusion, and the wrong voices can misdirect a life. Rather than processing his loss with God, Manasseh buried pain, embraced idolatry, and became a conduit of spiritual relapse. The thread is painfully contemporary: when hurt is not surrendered, it becomes the steering wheel. In that space, voices that do not love God will happily offer shortcuts, false strength, and counterfeit comfort.

A parallel story shows the same arc. Lenita, raised by a faithful father, rejected his God after his death and wore bitterness like identity—until illness forced silence, stripped applause, and brought her to a raw prayer: “God, help me.” There, the Lord met her, healed her body, and, more importantly, redirected her soul. So it was with Manasseh: God, in severe mercy, removed his crown, crowd, and confidence through Assyrian captivity to quiet every misleading voice. In isolation, he remembered not his father’s “rules,” but his father’s prayers. Humbled, he sought the Lord, and the Lord heard, restored, and reoriented him.

The path forward is not complex, but it is costly: refuse to carry the buried hurt of 2025 into 2026. Do not normalize spiritual distance or make grief the excuse to drift. Cast your care on Christ instead of internalizing it. Name the losses—death, betrayal, financial strain, setbacks—and bring them to Jesus. Allow Him to dismantle false security; strength does not come from loudness or control, but from surrender. God has a place of blessing prepared, yet He will not teleport anyone there. He orders steps; He rarely shortcuts formation. Some detours (Jerusalem to Babylon and back) are not providence but pride—and can be admitted and amended today.

God still loves, still listens, and still leads. He removes the wrong voices, restores discernment, and places a new song in the humbled. Start the year clean: lay down the baggage, accept God’s timing—even in death—and let Him lift you from the valley to the mountaintop. The invitation is simple: trust God, bring the pain, and walk the path He lights.

Key Takeaways

1. Pain can misdirect your steps When loss or disappointment is buried instead of prayed, grief becomes a guide. In that vulnerability, the enemy supplies counselors who weaponize your hurt and normalize disobedience. Name the wound, refuse isolation, and bring it to God before it hardens into direction. [45:20]
2. God removes false securities to heal Sometimes love looks like loss—of status, crowd, or self-made safety—so His voice can be heard again. Isolation is not abandonment but intervention when lesser crutches must fail. Strength begins where surrender starts, not where willpower blusters. [67:10]
3. Bring your pain to Jesus Christ invites the weight you cannot carry, not a polished image you cannot maintain. Take the job loss, betrayal, anxiety, and unpaid bills to Him in honest prayer. Refusal to do so keeps you circling the valley you were meant to pass through. [53:55]
4. Choose God’s path, not bitterness Bitterness interprets every providence as insult and keeps you stuck in yesterday’s wound. Trust says “yes” to God’s timing—even in death—and asks for a new heart rather than a new narrative. The mountaintop call still stands; don’t recruit others for the valley. [59:29]
5. Pray for discernment in the silence Not every friendly voice is faithful counsel, and not every religious voice is wise. Ask the Spirit to expose flattery, pride, and manipulative guidance, and to light the path you should walk. Discernment is protection for a soul newly re-centered in God. [80:07]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[32:34] - New Year reflections and plans
[35:39] - Scripture: 2 Chronicles 33 and theme
[37:53] - Letting God lead when pain blocks view
[40:47] - Lenita’s turning point: remembering prayers
[43:10] - From Ahaz to Hezekiah: spiritual backdrop
[45:20] - Manasseh’s grief and misdirection at twelve
[48:28] - Trusting God when “why” has no answer
[53:55] - Take every burden to Jesus
[57:22] - Mortality, acceptance, and God’s timing
[59:29] - From valley voice to mountaintop witness
[61:23] - “He hearkened not”: bad coping patterns
[67:10] - Assyrian captivity: mercy through stripping
[69:14] - A humbled prayer God hears
[70:26] - False security vs. strength in surrender
[75:32] - God’s place of blessing requires steps
[77:54] - Owning detours: Jerusalem–Babylon–Jerusalem
[81:27] - Altar call: don’t carry pain into 2026
[98:05] - “It is done”: praise by faith
[100:33] - Offering and gratitude
[103:59] - Closing announcements and dismissal
[106:19] - End

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading

- 2 Chronicles 33:9–13

But Manasseh led Judah and the people of Jerusalem astray, so that they did more evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites. The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention. So the Lord brought against them the army commanders of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh prisoner, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon. In his distress he sought the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his ancestors. And when he prayed to him, the Lord was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is God.

Observation questions

In 2 Chronicles 33:9–13, what did Manasseh do to make Judah and Jerusalem “err,” and what changed in him once he was “in affliction” and humbled?
According to the story shared, what was stripped from Manasseh to quiet the noise around him—his throne, army, and crown ([01:07:32])? Why might that detail matter in the story?
What simple prayer rises at the turning point—“Lord, help me” ([01:09:37])? Where do you see that line up with the text’s “he humbled himself greatly”?
In verse 13, when did “Manasseh know that the LORD, he was God”? What was the sequence that led to that knowing?

Interpretation questions

How can God using Assyria to humble Manasseh be an act of love rather than abandonment—removing false security so his voice can be heard again ([01:07:10])?
“He hearkened not” is a strong phrase. What does a pattern of not listening do to a heart and a community over time ([01:01:23])?
Accepting mortality and God’s timing shifts the inner talk from “Why me?” to “Yes, Lord.” What changes in a person when that “yes” is offered to God’s timing—even in loss ([59:14])?
Discernment protects a newly re-centered soul. What kinds of flattering or manipulative voices does the Spirit expose, and how does that protection work in daily choices ([01:20:07])?

Application questions

Name it, don’t bury it. What pain from 2025 are you tempted to carry into 2026—death, betrayal, money stress, setback? What does it look like to bring that exact weight to Jesus in honest prayer this week ([01:21:27])?
Quiet the noise. Which voices keep you stuck—friends, feeds, inner scripts? What concrete step will you take to create silence so you can hear God (turn the phone off, a set hour with Scripture, a fast from certain inputs) ([01:08:07])?
Trade false strength for surrender. Where have you been leaning on a false security—control, loudness, image, money, independence? What is one act of surrender you will practice (kneel to pray, confess, ask for help, submit to counsel) ([01:10:26])?
Take the next step. God won’t teleport you; he orders steps. What is one clear step of obedience God is lighting, and when will you take it (call, reconcile, apply, serve, show up) ([01:15:32])?
Move from valley voice to mountaintop witness. If bitterness has been narrating your story, what would repentance look like? Who do you need to forgive, and what conversation do you need to stop recruiting others into ([59:29])?
Refuse isolation. Where have you withdrawn—skipping church, dodging community, ignoring calls? What’s your plan this week to re-engage (text someone, join a group, ask for prayer) so you stop “hearkening not” and start walking with others ([01:01:50])?
Praise by faith. What will “Thank you—it is done” faith look like for you this week? How will you thank God before you see the result (journal, song, testimony, generous act) ([01:38:05])?

Sermon Clips

Because, see, many times we take hurt and we internalize it and we keep it. We hold on to that hurt. You've had things happen. Somebody said something this year you did not like. Maybe there's a friendship you lost. Maybe there's a relation that you lost. Something happened this year. And it bothered you. And rather than taking it to God in prayer and letting God use that situation to take you higher, you're digging it deep in your heart. [00:49:51] (29 seconds) #GiveGodYourHurt

And I find that people who do this have been doing the same thing for many years. I've talked to people sometime and they're still grieving over things that happened five years ago. Ten years ago. There are those that are going through things and they're still grieving 20 years later. God has blessed me, I guess. I don't know. I believe that he's got everything under control. And so I give it to God in prayer. I just let God take it. [00:50:22] (28 seconds) #LetGoGiveToGod

They're suffering because the enemy is using their pain to misdirect them away from God. If you get to God, you get peace. If you get to God, you get victory. If you can get to God, God can take you higher. God can touch your mind, heal your body. If you can just get to God, God can work miracles in your life. [00:52:00] (28 seconds) #GetToGodForMiracles

See, God's been trying to take you to a place, a place for quite a while, an appointed place, a place of blessing, a place where he wants you to be. He wants that fellowship with you. He wants to spend time with you. He wants to be with us. That was his course. That was his plan. He had you on a plan, a course to make it all over to him. So along the line, something happened in your life. Something painful happened in your life. [00:54:49] (30 seconds) #GodsAppointedPlace

Now you're sitting home crying. Nobody cares about me. Nobody wants to think about me. Nobody's on my side. Nobody's for me. Over and over again. Thought after thought. Negativity after negativity. And all you're doing, why me, God? That was not the prayer you need to be praying. You should be praying. God, keep me up. Keep me strong. Keep me in your will. God, keep me glorified in your name. God, in the name of Jesus. No matter what has happened, God. I want to make it to glory. [00:55:32] (29 seconds) #PrayForStrengthNotPity

When you should be on the mountaintop, giving all the glory to God and encouraging others to come up on the mountaintop, you're still in the valley. And you're encouraging people to stay in the valley with you. But the God's not called you to be a messenger of the valley. He's called you to be a messenger to the mountaintop. Get yourself to the mountaintop and bring somebody with you. [00:59:43] (19 seconds) #MountaintopMessenger

See, they began to tell him, as long as you go down this path, nothing can happen to you. And so God had to remove a false sense of security. A lot of people have a false sense of security. If I don't go to church, God can't speak to me. If I don't go to church and open up my Bible, then God can't deal with me. But where can you go to get away from God? You go down to the deepest part of the sea, and God's still there. You go to the moon. God said, what took you so long? You can't go anywhere to get away from the love of God. God loves you. [01:10:16] (40 seconds) #YouCantEscapeGod

That's not how you deal with your problem. You don't deal with your problem trying to have a false sense of security. I'm powerful. I'm mighty. No, you're still nothing without God. I'm not trying to offend anybody this morning. I know we try to be strong so we can take on the things. And men, sometimes, we want to be strong so we can take care of our family. But the way to be strong is to get on your knees before God and seek his face. Let God be able to bless. Then you are strong. [01:11:32] (33 seconds) #StrengthOnYourKnees

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