It was the summer of 1992. I was a 12-year-old hanging out with my best friend, my first major crush and a crew of other kids who will remain nameless (mainly because I don't remember their names). :) It was the era of "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air" and I was wearing shortalls with one strap undone...simply because I thought it was cool. My crush wanted to play baseball in a nearby field. To get there, we all had to climb a fence. And in the exact moment when I wanted to be the prettiest, coolest chick around, my undone strap caught in the fence and ripped my shorts all the way down the back!
Needless to say, I was absolutely mortified. Ever since then, it seems that in the moments when I try to be most impressive, I fall flat on my face (sometimes literally). Perhaps this is God's sense of humor at work in my life...or His natural way of keeping me humble. :)
Joking aside, the desire to be successful, respected and admired can drive people to do REALLY stupid things. In some cases, this unchecked desire leads to pride and pushes them to dismiss God and His ways.
In today's chapter, King Uzziah exemplified this behavior. (If only he had chosen cheesy 90s clothing instead...) For much of his life, Uzziah was a good guy and a God-fearing king. And then we read this:
...But then the strength and success went to his head.
Arrogant and proud, he fell.
One day, contemptuous of God,
he walked into The Temple of God like he owned it and took over,
burning incense on the Incense Altar.
The priest Azariah, backed up by eighty brave priests of God, tried to prevent him.
They confronted Uzziah:
"You must not, you cannot do this, Uzziah—
only the Aaronite priests, especially consecrated for the work, are permitted to burn incense. Get out of God's Temple;
you are unfaithful and a disgrace!"
But Uzziah, censer in hand, was already in the middle of doing it
But Uzziah, censer in hand, was already in the middle of doing it
and angrily rebuffed the priests.
He lost his temper; angry words were exchanged—
and then, even as they quarreled, a skin disease appeared on his forehead...
Uzziah had his skin disease for the rest of his life
and had to live in quarantine;
he was not permitted to set foot in The Temple of God.
It's interesting that this story appears so close to a similar one we saw yesterday (see "The Disease of Dishonor"). It's not a coincidence that both stories point to the same core issue. Most of us have plenty of "I can do it myself!" moments (just hang out with toddlers for a few hours and you'll see what I mean). The next time you have such a moment, remember me and my ripped shortalls...or this tragic story about Uzziah. It's absurd to think that we can dismiss God and His instructions. Ultimately, life with God isn't about trying to look cool and in control. It's a strange paradox: When you try so hard to be impressive, you'll fail--but when you submit to Him in obedience, you'll shine (Phil. 2:14-15).
