I wish you enough...

King Uzziah becomes King of Jerusalem when he was 16 years old. He started out as a good king. You will find his fascinating story in 2 Chronicles 26. The Bible describes King Uzziah’s life as: “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord … He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the Lord, God gave him success”.

Things go along quite well. King Uzziah is a busy and successful man. The Chronicler describes his many activities which include successful military conquests, building towers, fortifying city walls, and building catapults. King Uzziah’s favorite activity was farming and the Bible describes him as “having much livestock in the foothills and the plain. He had people working his fields and vineyards in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil”.

But then things go south…”But after Uzziah become powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense”. This was a job that only the priests were to do in the temple. The priests confronted King Uzziah and asked him to “Leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful; and you will not be honored by the Lord God”. King Uzziah gets really angry and while he “was raging at the priests…in the Lord’s temple leprosy broke out on this forehead”. Whoa! The King quickly leaves the temple now and spends the rest of his life living in a separate house as a leper.

It’s hard to stay focused on God when we have too much. So with this story in mind…
I wish you enough…

o I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright no matter how gray the day may appear.
o I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more.
o I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting.
o I wish you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life may appear bigger.
o I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
o I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
o I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye.

"...give me neither proverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say,'Who is the Lord?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God". Proverbs 30:8b-9

Yes...but

Have you ever prayed for someone that had a problem in their life that just never seemed to improve? Are you met with “Yes… but…” when you offer suggestions or good advice to this person? There are people who ask for healing, pray for healing, but don’t really want to be healed. I will share an entry from Dan Miller of 48 Days that is a great insight to this “problem person” (and “person with problems”) in your life.

"Sometimes there’s a comfortable misery in predictable, repeating failure.

There was a pool in Jerusalem near the sheep market that was believed to have special properties. The belief was that every so often, at an unexpected time, an angel would stir the water, and then whoever managed to jump in first would be healed. In John 5 in the Bible, we read where Jesus was walking by and heard the whining voice of a guy who had been coming there every day for 38 years. Jesus walked up to him and asked, “Wilt thou be made whole?” (Dude, do you want to get well?) The guy was probably offended and thought to himself “Of course I do. Haven’t I been coming here every day for 38 years?” (John 5: 5-9)

But we know Jesus could see through to the heart. The question was a legitimate one. “Do you want to get well?” I suspect that enjoying poor health, hanging around at the pool, receiving other people’s sympathy and handouts had become this guy’s profession. Of course he had reasons to complain. Can’t you see how bad things are? He had probably long since lost any hope of changing his situation and created his own private little welfare system.

Seeing into his heart Jesus said “Get up and walk!” A little confused by the authority the guy actually found out he could stand up and walk. Whoa! No more comfort of self-pity, no more sympathy from friends, no more of the predictable familiarity of justified whining and complaining. What do you suppose happened the next morning when this guy’s mom and day suggested he go out and get a job?

How many people do you know whose anger, resentment and “victim” mentality has become their identity? “If I got a job, my disability checks would stop.” “If it weren’t for this pain in my leg, I’d be willing to go to work.” “You know the economy is bad-there aren’t any jobs available.” “I’m suing the company because they fired me after only four days of being late.” Not everyone who is “down and out” wants their life to change. There’s safety in being down and out. The real test and responsibility come with being healthy and well. Thus the question, “Wilt thou be made whole?”

Sometime I fear we sabotage our own success because the familiarity of the known is more comfortable than the uncertainty of the unknown possibilities. If you were offered the chance for a better future, would you take advantage of it? Is there any “sickness” that you are hanging on to?"