Beating the Odds

ILL: Many years ago I heard a statistic that blew my mind…and stuck with me for years

It was orientation day at the Baptist College of Florida

It was an exciting day…a new journey was beginning

As one of the professors spoke with us, he told us to look around the room at one another

He told us that the statistics tell us that only 1 out of 10 of us will retire from Pastoral Ministry

I was shocked!

How could 9 out of 10 of us…not see this through

It went from an exciting moment…to a somber moment

I remember praying in that moment and determining in my heart that I wasn’t going to quit

BUT…I’m sure I wasn’t alone in that prayer

No one in that room…was planning to one day walk away from ministry…or simply never began in vocational ministry

But the statistics today…still paint the same bleak picture…

The Francis Shaeffer Institute of Church Leadership Development reports that 35-40% of pastors last less than 5 years in the ministry

With 60-80% of those who began in ministry leaving vocational ministry within 10 years

I imagine we have ALL wrestled with discouragement in ministry in some way

I imagine we have all at some point questioned…do I want to keep on going?

It appears the odds of finishing well are not in our favor

And there are a host of reasons one might quit ministry

BUT…the Question I want us to consider tonight…how do we beat the odds and finish well?

Our passage will be from 2 Chronicles 26…

We’re going to learn from a young man who became a mighty man of God and king of Judah

A young man who started so well…who had such promise…but failed to finish strong

His demise would come at the height of his reign as king…and his fall would be hard

I believe there are some lessons we can glean from his story

Read with me…and learn from King Uzziah’s story…

READ: 2 Chronicles 26:1–5 “And all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah. 2 He built Eloth and restored it to Judah, after the king slept with his fathers. 3 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. 4 And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. 5 He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God, and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.”

Here was a man…who started with a bang!

Only 16 years…thrust into a position of power and authority

He was one of a few kings after Solomon who did what was right in the eyes of God

He was faithful and God fearing

We read that he “set himself to seek God…”

Here was a young man with faith, conviction, and a hunger for God

As long as he sought the LORD, God made him prosper…

Uzziah would grow into a powerful man of God

God blessed him with might and wisdom

He built up the kingdom of Judah and prospered

By all measures he was an outstanding king

2 Chronicles 26:16 “But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.”

That was the beginning of the end for Uzziah

His pride has grown to such a point he thought himself above God’s law

Uzziah was not qualified to burn incense in the temple…that was for the priests

Remember…Saul was rejected for a similar reason

Azariah, the priest, confronted him in his sin telling him he was wrong and needed to leave

Uzziah responded through prideful anger…and God stuck him with Leprosy

The powerful king Uzziah would spend the remainder of his life in isolation…excluded from the house of the LORD

We ask…how do men of God lose their ministry?

Let me tell you how…it begins with pride

Pride is the root of all evil

Pride is what turned Lucifer into Satan

Pride is what led Adam and Eve to sin against God

And it’s what led the great king Uzziah to sin against God

Pride is a silent and deadly killer

In pride we think too often of ourselves

We make life all about us

Our likes, our wants, our desires, our feelings

And we start to view our church and ministry the same…all about me

And that’s dangerous…because so easily thinking too often of yourself turns to thinking too highly of yourself…

In pride we begin to think too highly of ourselves

We can mistake ministry success as our success

We can view ourselves above correction

In pride we begin to overestimate our strength, resolve, and abilities

We become comfortable in our own skin…and self-reliant

We grow complacent in our walk…and stop seeking God

And it’s only a matter of time before compromise creeps in…and many disqualify themselves

That’s what happened to Uzziah…

He become too impressed with himself

He mistook Judah’s success as HIS success

His love for God was replaced with a love for self…

The text doesn’t outright tell us he quit seeking God, but I believe it’s implied in the contrast from beginning to end of his story

For a season…it may have seemed all was well…but Uzziah’s heart had slowly drifted

Listen brothers…rarely does a man of God lose himself overnight

No, it happens over time

It happens with each decision to seek anything other than God to fill what is missing

It happens when we confuse ministry success as OUR success

It happens when we take our eyes off Jesus

It happens when we become consumed…with self

How can you beat the odds…how can we finish strong?

The key is in the beginning of the story…

2 Chronicles 26:4–5 “And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. 5 He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God, and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.”

Look around this room brothers…according to staticians…the odds are not in our favor

Brothers…we have ALL witnessed men we loved and cared for…leave their post

Never to return to the ministry of Pastor

Some in disgraceful fashion…disqualifying themselves in some kind of sin

Some who had no moral failure…but the weight and demands of ministry were too much

And some who give no explanation…they are just gone

It breaks our hearts to see brothers suffer, fall, and leave the ministry

But it always serves as a reminder to me…that it can happen to any of us

IF…we aren’t safeguarding our hearts, lives, and ministry

IF…we are continually seeking Jesus first

You have a high and awesome calling on your life

To abandon your ministry…is to abandon God’s calling on your life…IF you are called

And will lead to a life of regret, filled with “woulda, coulda, shoulda…”

Quitting is not an option…not IF you are called by God

So learn from those who have gone before us…learn from Uzziah’s downfall

Do what is right in the eyes of the Lord —>Walk faithfully

Set yourself to seek God ALL your days —> Never lose your hunger for God

And always remember…You are called by God —> and He who calls you is with you…He is faithful to see you through

You can finish strong, because He who dwells in you is strong!

PRAY