Scripture:

“Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother was Jecoliah from Jerusalem. He did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight, just as his father, Amaziah, had done. Uzziah sought God during the days of Zechariah, who taught him to fear God. And as long as the king sought guidance from the Lord, God gave him success…But when he had become powerful, he also became proud, which led to his downfall. He sinned against the Lord his God by entering the sanctuary of the Lord’s Temple and personally burning incense on the incense altar.” 2 Chronicles 26:3-5, 16 (NLT)

Perspective:

What does success mean to you? We want to achieve it, but it seems that sometimes the answer is unclear. We see people make lots of money and label that as success. We see people graduate with degrees and label that as success. We see people live in a big house, drive a nice car, have a polite family, and label that as success. But, is the greatest success defined by something else?

When Uzziah became King, he honored God through leading the nation of Israel. Although Uzziah was quite young when he became King, he set his heart on seeking God. When Uzziah looked to God, God granted him victory. Yet, the success Uzziah experience was not limited to his own talent, upbringing, or personality. His success was directly correlated to his reliance on God. At the end of his life, he began to rely more on his own strength and ego, which resulted in forfeiting God’s blessing on his life. In our lives, success can be defined as a variety of things, but the greatest success comes when we set our heart on seeking God.  We are limited by our own knowledge and abilities. We can’t anticipate all of the battles and situations before us. Yet, when we set our heart on seeking God, we can be confident that God is going to help us. God redefines success for us. In life, we can succeed at many things that the world will stand back and applaud. We can buy the newest, coolest things to impress the people with whom we work. Although having nice things isn’t bad, the issue is whether our heart is set on obtaining earthly things or loving God. After all, when all is said and done, only God’s opinion matters.

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from THE MESSAGE. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002.  Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.


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