Remain Obedient to the Will of God

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Israel followed the same pattern over and over again while God, by His mercy, showed Himself faithful over and over again. As it was with them so it is with us: sin, servitude, supplication, salvation, silence (peace).

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Samson, the final Judge of Israel, is introduced via God's ordination of him from before he was born. Judges 1:3-5 reads, "And the Angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, "Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. 4 Now therefore, please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean. 5 For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines."

Takeaway

Every believer starts with a calling, salvation unto Lord Jesus, but our calling must be protected as Samson's example warns: consecration must be pursued via sanctification not merely received via justification.

Mismanagement

The only way we can live for God is to have a right perspective on the blessings of God. That is, to understand and accept that what we have (including our lives) doesn't belong to us, it all belongs to God, that we are to act in faithful stewardship. To see things any other way is to have a dangerous heart posture before God which will, in time, lead to a great and tragic downfall.

Samson had been gifted unimaginable strength, who had been ordained before conception, yet, this is true, his greatest battles were not with the Philistines or any external enemy but rather with his own desires. As a result, Samson ignored the Nazarite boundaries set by God and lived in accordance with his own desires. We read of this when Samson did so by choosing a Philistine wife (Judges 14:1-3), when he touched the carcass of a dead lion (Judges 14:9) and he did so when he took self-centered revenge on Israel's enemies (Judges 15:3).

Faithful stewardship of our lives isn't easy but how blessed we are to be yoked with Christ and to, by the Holy Spirit, discern and be obedient unto the will of God as we read in Psalm 40:8, "I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart."

Takeaway

We are to be strong in and for the Lord and not in and for ourselves. Ability becomes dangerous when detached from obedience unto God. In Samson's life we learn surely that uncontrolled desires can and will sabotage God‑given potential and ruin God-desired witness.

The Downfall

Victory can come in the form of strength, speed and strategy but more times than not, victory comes by way of attrition. The converse of this is also true, we can experience defeat by way of attrition on the part of others.

This is clearly the case with Samson concerning Delilah as she does not physically overpower him but rather, she wins by attrition; slowly but surely wearing away at his ability to resist temptation to which Samson would eventually yield to due to his ego. For example, we see Delilah's persistence in Judges 16:6, Judges 16:10, Judges 16:13 and finally Judges 16:16-17 where he tells her that all that must happen would be for his hair to be cut off and that he would then be like any other man.

Ultimately, Samson plays with temptation instead of fleeing from it because, in the end, he pridefully believes that he will be able to withstand it; he believes that he can exist within proximity to such a roaring flame and not be consumed by it.

Church, the devil, the world and sinful flesh will always be at war with the will of God and the new creation we are in Jesus Christ the Lord; this life is a spiritual war of attrition.

Thankfully we read what we do 1 Corinthians 10:13, "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it."

Takeaway

No matter how strong we are or how strong we think we are, we are always in danger of defeat so long as we entertain temptation as sin erodes resolve slowly and the battle is lost when we stop guarding our hearts, seeking first the kingdom of God and fleeing from temptation.

Restoration

In his final hours Samson's greatest strength would not come through his physical attributes, although God did use Samson's strength, but by way of his surrender to the One Who is faithful and true.

Blind, humbled and imprisoned, Samson comes to the end of himself and finally prays out of supplication in Judges 16:28-30

In this same way we are strongest when we are in surrender to God, when we pray to God and seek to glorify Him in all we do; Psalm 46:1 reads, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."

Takeaway

Scripture clearly points to the fact that God desires to and will redeem a broken life when that individual returns to Him with a repentant and contrite heart.

Pointing to Christ

Church, the life of Samson wasn't victorious because he was able to keep the Nazarite Vows; he was victorious because he finally realized his great need for God as his Lord.

In this same way, we are powerless against the forces and the enemy which confronts us. In fact, our own flesh wars against us as we read in Galatians 5:17, "For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish."

Therefore, what comfort we have in knowing that failure on our part is not final blow when repentance represents our genuine heart posture before God. 2 Corinthians 7:9-10, "Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. 10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death."

It's not easy, but let us be obedient unto the One Who was obedient unto death on a cross and thereby confirm that the victory we have over the wages of sin is by Christ's resurrected victory over the grave. We read of His victory, having purchased us from death, Colossians 2:15, "Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it."

Takeaway

Learning from the example of Samson, strength without obedience will lead to our undoing, that our greatest victories can come after our greatest failures and that strength, true strength, is found ONLY in our dependance upon God.

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