Verse of the Day: “Uzziah sought God during the days of Zechariah, who taught him to fear God. And as long as the king sought guidance from the Lord, God gave him success.” - 2 Chronicles 26:5
“Uzziah sought God”……….Uzziah became king of Israel at the age of 16 after the death of his father Amaziah. In this time, the kings of Israel had a habit of turning away from God and becoming proud. The goal of pride, in the eyes of the serpent, is to turn God’s people away from their Creator and into their own independence. Early in Uzziah’s reign, he did the opposite and sought God. What’s the importance in this? James, the brother of Jesus, explains it clearly.
“Come close to God, and God will come close to you.” - James 4:8
“And as long as the king sought guidance from the Lord, God gave him success”……….there is no better place to seek guidance than from our Heavenly Father. He will never led us astray. He will always lead us in accordance to His will for our lives, which is the safest place for us to be. When we seek guidance from God, He will lead us down correct pathways for our lives. It’s when we seek to be independent from God and go our own way, that we run into trouble. This has been the case since the beginning of time. Uzziah’s life was no different. Here are some examples from this passage that show the benefits of seeking God versus the pitfalls of going away from Him.
Benefits of Uzziah seeking God
Verse 7 - “God helped him in his wars against the Philistines, his battles with the Arabs of Gur, and his wars with the Meunites.”
Verse 8 - “His fame spread even to Egypt, for he had become very powerful.”
Verse 11 - “Uzziah had an army of well-trained warriors, ready to march into battle, unit by unit.”
Verse 13 - “The army consisted of 307,500 men, all elite troops. They were prepared to assist the king against any enemy.”
Verse 15 - “His fame spread far and wide, for the Lord gave him marvelous help, and he became very powerful.”
The pitfalls of Uzziah's pride leading him away from God
Verse 16 - “But when he became powerful, he also became proud, which led to his downfall.”
Verse 19 - “Uzziah, who was holding an incense burner, became furious. But as he was standing there raging at the priests before the incense altar in the Lord’s Temple, leprosy suddenly broke out on his forehead.”
"Verse 21 - “So King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in isolation in a separate house, for he was excluded from the Temple of the Lord.”
Verse 23 - “When Uzziah died, his grave was in a nearby burial field belonging to the kings, for the people said,”He had leprosy.” And his son Jotham became the next king.”
Pride is from the enemy. When we allow pride to grow inside of us, it can pull us away from God. When we are pulled away from God, more often than not, it can result in our downfall.
We have to be careful to continually seek the Lord. God wants to have loving relationship with us. When we surrender our will and trust Him, it creates the space for Him to do immeasurably more than we could ever do on our own.
The results of forgetting the source of our success can be seen in Uzziah’s story. Despite the fact that his fame reached to Egypt, that he had an army of more than 300,000 elite troops, that he was more powerful than any other man in Israel at the time, Uzziah was remembered for his leprosy.
We must not be like Uzziah, who had an unrepentant heart toward his son, responding with rage at the priests who were trying to lead him back to the way of God, we must have humble, repentant hearts. We must always remember who the source of our success is, and where our great help comes from.
Isaiah 9:6 describes the character of our great Lord perfectly.
“And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
This is who God is. Let us fear Him, let us rest in Him and let us never forget the reason for why we succeed.