II Chronicles 26:5 “And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had under-standing in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him to prosper.”
Success and Prosperity
Think about your greatest failure this summer. What was the one thing you wanted? Money? Wisdom? Time? Forgiveness? In one word, you wanted help.
Now think about your greatest success this summer. What did you want then? In one word, you wanted praise. You wanted someone to notice!
When you are weak, you want help. When you are great, you want praise. So then, when do you think you are in better shape spiritually? The trouble with prosperity is that you have a hard time seeking God. On the other hand, the only way to prosper in God’s sight is to seek Him!
The Bible says of King Uzziah, “As long as he sought the LORD, God made him to prosper.” Prosper is exactly what Uzziah did. Or rather, what God did for him. God “helped him against the Philistines” and Uzziah enjoyed fame, success, and strength. He was living at the very pinnacle of success, and II Chronicles 26:15 records, “For he was marvelously helped, till he was strong.”
Why was Uzziah strong? He was strong because God helped him. But there came a day in the Uzziah’s life when he went from being helped to “helping God.” We can be the same way! The result was this: “When he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction.”
Uzziah was not helping God; God was helping him! The day you forget the same is the day you are sunk. It would be better to be down and need help than to be on the pinnacle and want praise.
You can prosper, but only as you seek the Lord. Our nature is to stop seeking the Lord the moment He prospers us. The sweet spot in life is to seek God, to prosper, and to continue seeking God. Is that true of your life?