Most of us only think of the positive sides of blessing. But like most good things there is a place where it can ruin out lives. Now, you are thinking, “How could God’s blessing in my life be a danger?” Well, the Bible shares many accounts of blessing gone wrong. Let’s look at the account of King Uzziah.
I have been currently reading through the Old Testament book of 2 Chronicles. The companion words of 1 & 2 Chronicles primarily focus on the Kings from David forward (This is a mention of Saul’s death). The book recounts the decline of David’s bloodline and the eventual split of the country into two separate nations of Israel and Judah. The northern 10 tribes of Israel have not God honoring kings, while the southern kingdom of Judah is hit and miss. It seems there are many more ungodly kings than Godly ones. The account of a Godly king brings joy to the nation and to the present reader’s heart! Yet several accounts remind us of the “Danger to Blessing” for these Kings as well as for us today.
The truth is that blessing is more difficult to handle then difficulty. Now, before you call me crazy, consider the words of Proverbs. “If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.” (Proverbs 24:10) Other wisdom reminds us that early or easy blessings like an inheritance can become a curse. Another reminder of the challenge of blessing is appropriate to our King of Judah, “The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and a man is tested by his praise.” (Proverbs 27:21) The King is Uzziah. My heart rejoiced when I read, “And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord,… He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God, and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.” (2 Chronicles 26:4–5) The phrase “as long as he sought the Lord” caught my attention, as if there would be a time when this was not true.
The next section of the chapter recounts all that he was able to accomplish as King. It is also a reminder of the Lord’s blessing in His life. The 16-year-old king would go on to have an incredible impact for the Lord. He and the nation were blessed! Uzziah would stumble like his father, who also followed the Lord but then drifted from God’s blessing. The “Danger of Blessing” in these men’s lives and in ours is the result of pride. “But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.” (2 Chronicles 26:16) After rejoicing in a Godly Kings, these words penetrated my heart like a spear. I was screaming in my mind “Noooooooo!”
It is in reflecting on this passage that we are reminded of the dangers in our own lives of God’s blessing. It is not that God’s blessing in itself is bad or a danger. The danger lies in our own hearts. The first step to enjoying blessings for the long run is to be mindful of our own propensities toward pride. The Bible reminds us that God’s opposes that proud, even those that were once on track. A second step is to invest in developing Godly habits of reading and studying God’s Word, prayer, ministry and other spiritual disciplines. The Danger of Blessing is when we forget that the source of all blessings are from the Lord. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (James 1:17)
-Pastor Joe Parkinson