We’ve seen this before. Here’s how to keep it from happening again

By Dean Collins

It is a sad but familiar pattern. A leader starts out on the right path determined to do the right thing, to seek God, to gain instruction from God’s Word, and to live in reverence to God and his authority.

And good results follow. God directs the paths of the leader. God offers protection, direction, and provision. And then someone notices and starts to talk about all this success, maybe even interviews the leader on a podcast or two.

The leader writes a book or two and gives some speeches, and his/her popularity spreads. The leader’s fame, influence, and bank account grow. And then the leader starts reading the headlines, rereading the comments about their success, and believing more and more in themselves and less and less in the God who directed their past and whom they sought in the beginning.

A strong beginning

In 2 Chronicles 26 we see an ancient example of this pattern. Uzziah started out on the right foot. And he started young. Uzziah was appointed as king while just a teenager. At 16 most adolescents are dealing with acne, trying to fit in with their peers, figuring out whether to go to college or become a professional athlete or social media influencer, and struggling to manage their hormones. But Uzziah found himself sitting on the throne of Judah.

Maybe it was good mentoring or maybe it was a prompting of the Holy Spirit, or maybe both. But Uzziah set himself up to lead well because he sought God, was willing to be taught in the ways of God, and did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. And good results followed by the blessing of God on his life and leadership.

We don’t know how old Uzziah was when he became proud (v. 16), but my guess is it was gradual. Isn’t that our experience? A little success and a little praise, and then a little pride sneaks in. Over time we start enjoying the attention, the pats on the back, and the raises; and before you know it we become pretty sure we are just that good.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with encouragement and even reward or recognition for our hard work. The problem is that if we are not daily seeking God and his will, we will fall to the temptation of gaining self-confidence and reliance instead of trusting God to be our source of wisdom and strength.

A sad pattern

Here are the highlights of how that went in the case of Uzziah as documented in 2 Chronicles 26:

And he did what was right in the eyes of the lord…
He set himself to seek God…
(He was) instructed in the fear of God,
… and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper…
God helped him against…
Many paid tribute to him
His fame spread far and wide

But when he was strong, he became proud, to his destruction.

Our best defense against falling to the enemy’s temptation to pride is to surrender daily to God, confessing his greatness and our dependence on him. I suspect we don’t have much problem with the first part. God’s greatness is obvious. We look around in nature and see his glory everywhere. But confessing our dependence on God is more challenging because so much of our culture teaches us to be self-reliant.

The surrender that matters

In John 15:5 Jesus reminds us that apart from him we can do nothing. The context involves bearing fruit that will last. If we want short-term results that might be praised for a minute or two, then we should go ahead and trust ourselves. But if we want to be used by God to bring eternal results, then daily surrender is required.

Uzziah started out on the right foot. But somewhere along the way he got off track and took things into his own hands instead of surrendering to God all that was in his hands. The results were his destruction.

Lord, forgive us when we pay too much attention to our achievements. Forgive us when we have allowed pride to get in the way of what you want to accomplish in us, for us, and through us. We open our hands before you today and ask you to take charge. Fill us with your wisdom and lead us in paths of righteousness. Be glorified today through our obedience to you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Your time with God’s Word
‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭26‬:‭3‬-‭5‬, ‭7‬-‭11‬, ‭16‬-‭21‬ ‭ESV‬‬

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