...Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." 1 Peter 5:5, ESV

Gotta love Colorado weather.  By this time last week, we were hunkering down and enduring an early stretch of severe snowfall.  Now we're watching all that snow melt under this week's steady sunshine.  Polar opposite weather patterns can be somewhat entertaining, but there's another polar opposite on my mind today that's really quite sobering:  pride vs. humility.  According to 1 Peter 5:5, our choice to clothe our lives with one or the other makes the difference between a life marked by opposition toward God or grace from God.  The truth of this principle can be clearly seen in the lives of an ambitious king and an aspiring prophet in Old Testament history.  

This past Sabbath, we explored the experience of Isaiah (Isa. 6) and his vision of God in the temple.  It's a relatively well-known vision that may be familiar to some God sitting on heaven's throne and highlights His unmatched holiness and earth-filling glory.  But what may not be as familiar is that just a few years before Isaiah's vision, King Uzziah entered the temple and had a completely different encounter with God. 

A DIFFERENT HEART

The king's fateful trip to the temple happened during a season of tremendous prosperity and political success.  These national blessings were all the result of the Lord's favor upon Judah's ruler "as long as he sought the LORD" (2 Chron. 26:5).  King Uzziah knew first-hand what it was like to be "marvelously helped" by God (2 Chron 26:15) and could testify that the grace-receiving side of the 1 Peter 5:5 principle was in fact true.  But in that season of outward strength, Uzziah's heart "was lifted up" (2 Chron. 26:16) when he chose to enter God's temple.  In sharp contrast, while the king's heart was puffed up before God, Isaiah's heart was broken up before God, feeling absolutely "undone" and "unclean" (Isa. 6:5), ruined and wrecked in the presence of infinite glory.

A DIFFERENT GLORY

The glory of God that Isaiah saw in vision filled the whole earth and subsequently filled the prophet with heart-rending humility.  King Uzziah, however, was fixated on his own glory rather than God's.  The Bible tells us that the king's fame had already "spread far and wide" (2 Chron. 26:15), but when Uzziah entered the temple he didn't come to acknowledge God's authority but instead flaunt his own.  He attempted to burn incense on the altar, taking upon himself a role exclusively appointed for priests who had been consecrated to God.  The conscientious priests discerned the king's misstep and were bold to withstand Uzziah's flagrant power move.  Though fame and strength were already his by God's granting, Uzziah was grasping for "honor from the LORD" (2 Chron. 26:18) -- the same Hebrew word for "glory" in Isaiah 6.  The king of Judah entered the temple in pursuit of glory to claim as his own.  On the other hand, the prophet Isaiah entered the temple in vision and was awed by glory that was God's alone.

A DIFFERENT TOUCH

Sadly, the king who had formerly been "marvelously helped" by the Lord (2 Chron. 26:15) was immediately "struck" by the Lord with leprosy (2 Chron. 26:20).  Indulging a heart lifted up and grasping for a glory of his own led to a divine touch of resistance from God.  In quarantine, the once strong king could testify to the truthfulness of the opposition-receiving side of the 1 Peter 5:5 principle.  On the other hand, Isaiah's experience of humble repentance in light of God's glory, led him to encounter a divine touch of redemption and grace.  Upon confessing his sinfulness, Isaiah's lips were touched with a coal from the altar that points to the atoning sacrifice of Jesus.  Instead of being struck with leprosy and isolation from others, Isaiah was saved and set free to fulfill God's mission for others.

Two completely different experiences indeed that underscore the reality that if there's anything that should be exalted and lifted up, it's God's strength and not our own.  Each of us longs to live lives of import and impact, but Uzziah's mistakes and Isaiah example shows us that a life of service for God is ultimately rooted in our dependence upon God and not ourselves.  In this season of thanksgiving and gratitude, let's clothe ourselves with humility, cultivate hearts fixed on God's glory, and seek the saving, cleansing touch of Christ day by day.