Then Uzziah became furious; and he had a censer in his hand to burn incense. And while he was angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead, before the priests in the house of the Lord, beside the incense altar. - 2 Chronicles 26:16-19
Uzziah was greatly helped, actually marvellously helped by God as he armed and prepared his nation – but…
Once the nation's armies were established and its defences built and the king became strong he was not able to carry through on his success. When he saw all that ‘he’ had done his ‘heart was lifted up.’
Uzziah’s problem was that he got the wild notion that his success happened because of him. He forgot about his marvellous help and when he became strong he also became proud. When he became proud he took it on himself to burn incense in the place of the priests and when they confronted him he got angry. When he got angry with the priests God struck him with leprosy.
God is not going to strike us with leprosy, but the point is that we need to be aware of dealing with our own pride. When God gives us success and helps us along we need to remember that he is the reason for our success and not us.
‘Let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall’ is typical of the warnings in the word of God about thinking that we are something when we are not. ‘God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.’
God has marvellous help for us – but let's be sure that we remember that He alone is the source of that help.
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