This account of King Uzziah’s life should be a strong warning to us. Whenever we begin to believe that we are so important that we do not have to be held accountable for what we do or say, then we can be sure we are headed for a fall. Or when we refuse to obey God in a given area, we can expect to experience His discipline in our lives.

The reason is simple: pride isolates us from God. It prevents us from becoming people with hearts devoted solely to Him. This is the reason He hates it. He knows it is a stumbling block, and if left unchecked, it will wreak havoc in our lives. But more than this, pride exalts self and not God. Instead of God receiving the glory for our lives, we seek praise and glory for ourselves.

OVERCOMING PRIDE WITH TRUST

Our sole goal should be to be the best right where God has placed us. We can pray and ask Him to bless us with new challenges, but we need to focus on His plan and timing for our lives. The apostle Peter captured this thought perfectly when he wrote, “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time” (1 Pet. 5:6).

There are times when each one of us can sense God drawing near, warning us not to continue along a certain path. For one reason or another, we continue to walk in a direction that is not God’s best. Sooner or later, He turns up the pressure to get our attention. Life becomes difficult, and the more we fight against His discipline, the more we will suffer — emotionally, men­tally and physically. Adam and Eve had everything they could hope for, but they wanted more. What they gained at the hands of the enemy were sorrow, separa­tion from the One who loved them uncon­ditionally and disappointment.

Specific signs tell us we are struggling with pride. While the list is long, it certain­ly includes the following:

Pride has many faces. For this reason God cautions us to be vigilant in our stand against it. If we open a door to it, even a small one, the enemy will take advantage of the opening and rush into our hearts with thoughts that deceive us into thinking much better of ourselves than God desires. He wants you to have a healthy self-esteem, but He also wants you to learn how to handle pride so you will not miss His bless­ings for you.

Here is Satan’s trick: he tells us that we must reach certain levels in life to have a sense of worthiness. He also wants us to believe that we do not need anyone else. In other words, we begin to attack life the way he did. To the person who has never accepted Christ as his Savior, the enemy whispers, “You don’t need a Savior. Don’t bow your knee to anyone. After all, you’re the boss of your life.”

Believers are not exempt from this type of temptation. It just comes from a differ­ent angle: “Don’t ask for help. You can do it apart from God.Why tell your friends you are struggling? After all, they will make fun of you and think you are weak.” The truth is, each one of us needs the Savior.We need God’s wisdom and, most of all, His loving care. We need to know that we are loved just because God is a God of love and He cares for us, no matter what status we hold. Pride often surfaces because a person feels inferior and thinks she needs to be more than what she is.

Don’t fall for Satan’s tactics. You may think you need to push your way through life, but you don’t. Through Jesus Christ you are all you could ever hope to be. Ask God to teach you how to rest in His infinite care. When you learn to do this, you will not only gain a sense of hope, but you will also come to realize how valuable you are in Christ.