Light pink candle - The Joy Candle
I try to end my counseling sessions with appreciation and encouragement for my clients. I might say, “Thank you for trusting me with your story. I know that was hard.” or “Great work today! I’m so proud of you and the way you are cooperating with the Spirit to affect healing, growth and change.” Being proud of a client’s cooperative work involves admiration, gratitude and recognition of their efforts and God’s grace. However, sinful pride is the arrogant belief in one’s own superiority, a refusal to acknowledge God’s role, and viewing others with contempt or as objects through whom to get one’s needs met. When I am proud of my client for the way he is humbling himself and receiving true help from the Lord, the result is thanksgiving, humble joy and often tears; I know that this work is nothing short of miraculous and only possible because of Christ.
And then there is the way I end many evenings with my sweet, generous husband. We sit down to watch a show after supper and I’m wide awake, excited to take it all in. Just a few minutes in, I fall fast asleep. Dale quietly turns off the television and says, “Let’s head to bed.” I shake the cobwebs of sleep taking hold in my head and proclaim, “I wasn’t asleep, I was just closing my eyes.” Dale smiles at me, gets up and starts shutting off the lights. At this point, I definitely think and sometimes even pridefully say out loud, “You can’t tell me what to do!” Pridefulness exalts oneself above others, whether it is our own personal accomplishment or the accomplishments of others - our spouses, children, students or clients. Pride is what brought Satan down, as well as ushered in original sin. In our very core we have a pride problem because what we really want is to be our own god, our own boss, with no one telling us what to do. Somewhere along the line we’ve come to believe we’re owed more than we’ve actually earned, that we know what is best and don’t have to submit to anyone. That’s why it’s hard to forgive, hard to see others succeed, and hard to submit to God’s good authority.
In the counseling space I often see pride as a major stumbling block in clients’ healing. They want to get better, but they just can’t get around the idea that they may have to humble themselves to get there. Humility is exceedingly difficult because pride is often a defense mechanism that flares up when we’ve been hurt. Laying that down risks more hurt; yet, refusal to humble ourselves and lay that pride down will cost us much more.
“The highway of the upright avoids evil; the one who guards his way protects his life. Pride comes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall. Better to be lowly of spirit with the humble than to divide plunder with the proud.” (Prov 16:17-19)
In today’s reading, we open the door into the Holy Place of the temple and find a king that had done a decent job of following God, but his victories led to a pridefulness that resulted in disease, literally.
Read 2 Chronicles 26
Uzziah’s father, King Amaziah, had enjoyed tremendous military success during the early part of his reign as king of Judah and began thinking more of himself than he ought. He refused to listen to the wise counsel of Judah’s prophet and was killed after proudly provoking the king of Israel, Joash, resulting in a major conspiracy within his own kingdom. The chronicler describes Amaziah as doing “what was right in the Lord’s sight but not wholeheartedly.” (2 Chron 15:2)
Enter 16-year-old Uzziah onto the scene. This young king also experienced tremendous success. Gifted with an architectural and engineering mind, Uzziah rebuilt the walls in Jerusalem that had been destroyed during his father’s reign and even built watchtowers in every corner. He then designed and built towers and wells in the desert areas so that the nation’s flocks and herds could thrive. Militarily, Uzziah is credited with designing and crafting protective devices that would launch arrows as well as catapult large stones from the watchtowers, if and when they faced an attack. Uzziah’s fame spread all over, even as far as Egypt. Other kings did not want to mess with Uzziah!
“But when he became strong, he grew arrogant, and it led to his own destruction. He acted unfaithfully against the Lord his God by going into the Lord’s sanctuary to burn incense on the incense altar.” (v 16) Uzziah’s God-given success led him to presumption, seeking the role of spiritual leadership that could never be rightly his. He arrogantly walked right into the Holy Place of the temple where God’s presence dwells, intent on burning incense on the altar. When the priests tried to talk him down from this foolish act, explaining that only priests can enter into the most Holy Place, Uzziah became enraged. He lifted the firepan high over his head and in that moment was struck with a skin disease on his forehead. The sad ending to this story is that Uzziah never recovered. He lived in quarantine because of this serious skin disease the rest of his life. His son, Jotham, would take over the responsibilities of governing the people; Uzziah was all but forgotten.
This story of one of Jesus’ ancestors is hard to hear, isn’t it? I don’t know about you, but I prefer a story with a happy ending, where Uzziah repents and God restores him, physically as well as spiritually and professionally and he lives the remainder of his days humble, a servant leader of God’s people. Why would David be restored, albeit with consequences, and Solomon allowed to live out his days in peace, but Uzziah dies isolated and alone? We could spend a good amount of time speculating on why Uzziah was never restored to a right relationship with the Lord: for example, we don’t read that he ever repented from his prideful sin against a holy God. Perhaps it was the severity of Uzziah’s sin…entering into the Holy Place and acting as if he could fulfill the priestly duties assigned to the Levites? But I’m afraid that serves to illustrate our own trend towards pridefulness. The bottom line is that God is God and we are not! His ways are always right, whether they make sense to us or not. We are not on God’s board of directors. He does not report to us!
I don’t have to go too far in Isaiah’s prophecy - yes, Isaiah, who was prophet during Uzziah’s reign - to read the story’s happy ending. Happy not just for Uzziah, but for all of Israel! The Branch of the Lord - the Messiah, will come a second time, and make all things right. Hallelujah!
“On that day the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of Israel’s survivors. Whoever remains in Zion and whoever is left in Jerusalem will be called holy—all in Jerusalem written in the book of life— when the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodguilt from the heart of Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of burning. Then the Lord will create a cloud of smoke by day and a glowing flame of fire by night over the entire site of Mount Zion and over its assemblies. For there will be a canopy over all the glory, and there will be a shelter for shade from heat by day and a refuge and shelter from storm and rain.” (Is 4:2-6)
Sing Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee (See page 61 for lyrics)
Reflect
Are you tempted, as I am, to pridefully judge how God is running and ruling the world? To criticize His decisions and ultimately doubt His goodness and just, sovereign plan? Consider 2 Peter 3:8-9, “Dear friends, don’t overlook this one fact: With the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.” We don’t have the ability to see and understand much, but we can trust in the God who is All-Seeing, All-Knowing and All-Good.
Pray for a heart to trust God as Solomon encouraged his son in Proverbs 3:5-7: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight. Don’t be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and turn away from evil.” Father, forgive us when we are prideful, attempting to be wise in our own eyes. Give us courage to fear You, trust You and obey You.
