June 27th | 2 Chronicles 26
Pride Comes Before the Fall
We’ve heard the saying many times, “Pride comes before the fall.” We trace this saying to Proverbs, where Solomon gives wisdom to his sons. We’ve heard it before, but the nasty nature of pride whispers in our ear, “That only applies to ‘them,’ not to you.” We think we are better than others, and pride consumes our hearts, making us think we even know better than God Himself. Uzziah, king of Judah, learned the devastating consequences of pride in 2 Chronicles 26.
Things started very well for the young 16-year-old who became king. He followed after the Lord and was blessed by God.
2 Chronicles 26:5, “5 He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God, and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.”
There is a phrase at the end of this verse that is easy to forget when things are going well: “God made him prosper.” Did you know that every good gift you have in this life is from God above? Whatever you have materially or relationally is God’s grace upon you. Yet pride contorts our thinking. When things go bad, we attribute it to God hurting us, while when things go well for us, i.e., a promotion at work, healthy children, or a successful business, we like to take credit, saying, “I did that!” But just as with Uzziah, we are only blessed because God chooses to bless us.
Uzziah forgot this and, in his old age, he took it upon himself to forsake the commands of the Lord and waltz into the temple to burn incense even though this was reserved for the priests alone. When confronted by the chief priest, Uzziah became angry. Isn’t this what pride does? We get angry. We feel like we deserve good things because we are so great. Yet, in reality, we don’t deserve any of the grace God extends to us daily! What happened to Uzziah?
2 Chronicles 26:19;21, “19 Then Uzziah was angry. Now he had a censer in his hand to burn incense, and when he became angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead in the presence of the priests in the house of the Lord, by the altar of incense. 21 And King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death.
God struck him. The same hand that brought blessings now brought judgment. Oh, that we would fear the blessed hand of God! Praise Him for His blessings and fear Him for His judgment. A healthy understanding of God keeps us close to Him. Yet, when we let pride seep in, we are separated. Leprosy meant Uzziah was alone, an outcast, for the rest of his life.
Would you examine your life today? Is there pride? Do you need to humble yourself before God? Thank Him for His blessings and surrender to His mighty hand, finding grace and mercy. Choose to kill pride and seek the Lord today.
