Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah (strength of Jehovah), who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the room of his father Amaziah. Sixteen years old was Uzziah when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name also was Jecoliah (Jehovah will enable) of Jerusalem. And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah did. And he sought God in the days of Zechariah (Jehovah has remembered), who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him to prosper.
2 Chronicles 26:1,3-5
Have you ever heard the old saying, “All’s well that ends well?” I suppose that is a good philosophy because all of us who have had failures in our lives can keep looking forward because our failures do not have to be the end of us.
Uzziah was a good king because he had good counsel. Zechariah was a devout man of God who understood visions. Zechariah knew what the other great prophets were hearing from the Lord and proclaiming to the nation and he guided the life of young Uzziah with great wisdom. The key phrase in this passage is found in verse five which should speak to us even today. “As long as he sought the LORD, God made him to prosper.”
We get serious about seeking the Lord, especially in times of crisis (could this be called a time of crisis and are we seeking God about it) but what we need to learn is that we are to be people who are continuously after God’s heart through prayer. “The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” Uzziah sought the Lord in the days of Zechariah and as long as he sought the LORD, God prospered him.
Uzziah Loses Focus
However, somewhere, sometime, he apparently came to a place in his life that seeking God did not seem so important and it became his downfall. “But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the LORD his God, and went into the temple of the LORD to burn incense upon the altar of incense. (Oops)
That was a big NO-NO! He went against the direction of God. He decided that he would also do that which had been, by God, the designated work of the priests. He most likely thought that since I am king, I can do whatever I want to do. It was pride and arrogance the end not to be as good as the beginning.
I don’t know why some people get to feeling full of themselves but could it be they get the same malady as Uzziah did? I suppose that if we want the end of our lives to end better that the beginning, we need to remember that each breath that we breathe is a gift of God. And, as long as we are breathing, we should be praying and praising the Lord. What do you think? And, by all means, don’t try to do that to which we are not called of God to do. Amen?
