Pride

2 Chronicles 26: 3 – 5, 16

Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother’s name was Jekoliah; she was from Jerusalem.  He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Amaziah had done. He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the LORD, God gave him success. 

16 But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God.

How many of us have fallen in the same trap, the trap of arrogance? We begin a project or some new undertaking and are in the beginning so keenly aware of our shortcomings and inadequate skill set. We are humble and prayerful. God meets us at the point of our need and makes us successful in spite of ourselves. In our humility we give God all of the glory, all of the credit. We are almost painfully aware of how inadequate we are for the task and how God is carrying the load for us. He makes us look good for which we are immensely grateful. Unfortunately, like poor old Uzziah here, we eventually begin to believe in our prowess. We slowly stop giving God the glory and ultimately begin to think that we are the source of our success. Then comes the great fall.  

Proverb 16: 18 reads, “Pride precedes a disaster, and an arrogant attitude precedes a fall” (God’s Word Translation). Arrogance is always a problem and always leads to problems. We need to learn to be confident, yes, but that confidence should reside in knowing who our God is. The minute we begin to believe our own press we are doomed for failure.

I caught myself stepping woefully close to the rim of the great chasm which is pride recently. I have played bridge a couple of times lately. By the grace of God I have enjoyed a bit of success. I don’t play often so even as I acquire a bit of skill it is difficult to maintain any level of proficiency. But I have the good fortune to play with some wonderful partners. Not only are they largely responsible for our success but they also compliment me and build my confidence. They are beautiful people who attempt to build up those around them. I began to believe my own press though and that is very dangerous. All of a sudden I heard myself think, “Hey, maybe I am kinda good.” Praise God that when that thought went through my mind it set off alarm bells. It is not I, who is skillful, but my Lord and God, He carries me. He causes me to be able to do things which I could not do in my power.

Never let yourself be too impressed with yourself. As soon as you do, you are headed for a great fall. Be confident but let your confidence be in the Lord. He really can empower you so that you can do all things but it is only because of his strength, wisdom and guidance. Do not let your success go to your head but instead let it go to your heart and praise the Lord God Almighty.