But when he (King Uzziah) had become powerful, he also became proud, which led to his downfall. He sinned against the Lord his God by entering the sanctuary of the Lord’s Temple and personally burning incense on the incense altar. They (the priests) confronted King Uzziah, “Get out of the sanctuary for you have sinned. … leprosy suddenly broke out on his forehead.”

— 2 Chronicles 26:16-21

Over and over again the headlines buzz with fundamentally the same message.

“Another one bites the dust.” Affairs. Abuse. Lies. Illicit drugs. Embezzlement. Numerous men and women of social, religious or political standing have found themselves looking into the cameras for all the wrong reasons.

When having it all leaves one assuming they deserve all and are above all, the proverbial wheels begin to loosen.

King Uzziah was God’s man.

He faithfully pursued the Lord for guidance.

God said.

Uzziah did.

He obeyed his commands. He cried out to God when he faced resistance. God gave him victory and expanded his kingdom.

After a while, he looked around at all he had been given and determined himself to be an amazing guy.

Oops.

Nothing, not even the priest-only access to the Temple’s sanctuary, should be denied him.

Down he went.

Prosperity is a fierce and fiery trial. It has ruined the best of us. It lures us ever so subtly into the sinister trap of the devil.

“You don’t need God.”

“You’ve got it all under control.”

“You really are the big deal.”

Once there, anything is possible.

Most of us reading this today want for nothing.

The desperate are those struggling people we help from time to time.

It’s time for us to fall on our knees daily and confess that Jesus is Lord, and we are not.

The call

My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.” And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.”

— Psalm 27:8

When I picked up my ringing phone, I saw my daughter’s name on the caller ID.

Most of our communication these days is through texts, so I answered right away, concerned something was amiss.

It turned out my daddy senses were accurate.

Big pothole, flat tire.

After driving the 40 minutes to where she was and putting on the spare, I headed home feeling quite heroic.

Nearly home, my phone rang again. Same daughter, even bigger pothole.

In the verse above, the Psalmist is reflecting upon a call in his life. No phone was ringing. No loudspeaker was calling his name.

It was a special word delivered straight to his heart.

Specifically, it was a word of invitation.

The Inviter? God himself.

The invitation? To talk.

So, what do you do when God calls straight to your heart for a chat?

The Psalmist didn’t puzzle over the question very long at all.

“I’ll be right there.”

You and I get calls every day. Lots of them.

Phones, emails, circumstances, obligations, decisions, etc., provide a loud and steady flow of calls into our world.

We try to answer as best as we can, leaving ourselves worn out by the effort.

All the while, the deeper call, the call to our heart, rarely gets answered. It’s the one call that shapes us and prepares us for all the others.

Even a short talk with Jesus goes an awfully long way.

Wiles is senior minister of Fall Creek Christian Church in Pendleton. He can be reached at 765-778-3166.