Proud to be an American?

 Have you ever really thought about the words of Lee Greenwood's hit song, "God Bless the USA"? The main line that most people know is, "I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free and I won't forget the men who died who gave that right to me." It is rather ironic that the song is about being proud of our country, but the song is really about being humbled by living in the USA and how the writer is praising God that he is free.

Pride and Humility are opposites and we have to maintain a fine balance between our pride in America while at the same time remaining humble before the Lord. 

I was reading 2 Chronicles 26 today, the story of King Uzziah:

"Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother was Jecoliah from Jerusalem. He did what was pleasing in the Lord's sight, just as his father Amaziah, had done. Uzziah sought God during the days of Zechariah, who taught him to fear God. And as long as the king sought guidance from the Lord, God gave him success." (2 Chronicles 26:3-5)

God gave Uzziah great insight and helped him win wars and do wonderful things for Judah. As I was reading through his list of accomplishments, I enjoyed learning about how God placed skilled people around him and that started with Zechariah. He had many workers who knew about agriculture and built great farms. (26:9) Jeiel and Maaseiah were skilled at leading his Army and they were directed by Hananiah. (26:11-13) These were elite, well-trained, and well-supplied fighting men. Uzziah relied upon experts to build and maintain the walls of Jerusalem. (26:15) You could say his techniques and defenses were the latest and greatest technology. 

"His fame spread far and wide, for the Lord gave him marvelous help, and he became very powerful."(2 Chronicles 26:15)

"Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall. Better to live humbly with the poor than to share plunder with the proud. Those who listen to instructions will prosper; those who trust in the Lord will be joyful." (Proverbs 16:18-20)

Uzziah began thinking of himself as being beyond following God's laws. By the end of his story, he defied God and ended up lonely, isolated, and suffering from leprosy for the rest of his days. (26:16-21)

I wonder if we here in America are starting to follow the path of Uzziah. I love our country. I love my freedoms and mostly I love the ability to worship the Lord without restriction. But, there are signs that we are becoming fat, lazy, and arrogant. Are we too PROUD of being Americans? We have the latest technology. We have experts in every field guiding our military, our businesses, and our government. But, it seems we might be "puffing up our view of who we are!" Are we forgetting our humble beginnings? Have we forgotten how much the Lord has helped us throughout our two hundred-plus years?

God certainly has blessed us. God blessed Uzziah too, until he forgot the Lord! Our best course of action is for the people of this nation to fall upon their knees, humble themselves before the Lord, and realize how much his grace and mercy have guided us in the past. We need to fall on our knees and pray the Lord will continue to watch over us. We need to acknowledge we are nothing without him and beg him to forgive us our sins, our arrogance, and our pride!