22/06/2019
Blindness, And Confinement
Today we will look at the life of another great man in the bible whose inability to wait cost him dearly. He was perfect in bodily structure and strength, but his ego was too big to be contained. He was emotional and passionate, smart, but very self-centered. He had a great call on his life, but he had no patience. His name is Sampson and while God's hand was upon his life, and he did great feats in his life, and even in death, his inability to wait on the lord cut his life and purpose short. Like Abraham, Sampson was chosen by God to be a Judge and a warrior for Israel and his physical strength was immaculate, he had no match. The instructions given to Sampson's parents were very precise from God because his call was huge. It was to defend and protect his nation from the Philistines – "You will become pregnant and have a son whose head is never to be touched by a razor because the boy is to be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from the womb. He will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines." (Judges 13:5 NIV).
Everything was observed, and Sampson grew in strength and stature, but his inability to wait caused him to live life by the flesh, and he sought to satisfy his every desire. One day he saw a young Philistine woman he liked and demanded his parents to get her for him even though it was forbidden, but God had a plan to use it all for his purpose. No one could defeat Sampson, and that sent the Philistines on a quest to figure out the source of his strength since they couldn't defeat him with physical strength; they realized he had a weakness for women, and they used the women in Sampson's life to manipulate him. Sampson epitomizes the dual sides of us as humans; we can be very strong in some areas of our lives and have a deadly weakness.
The Bible tells us the enemy goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour – "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." (1 Peter 5:8). The enemy studies us, he sits and is very patient to watch our every move, and once he figures out our weakness, then he plots our downfall.
The problem comes in when we believe we are so strong we need not take precautions for our weak areas.
Sampson had many ups and downs in his life, but at every juncture, he had victory until he finally gave away the secret of his strength in his weakest moment, he shared his secret with Delilah. More than one time he tricked Delilah by giving her the wrong information, and he knew she was giving away the secrets to the enemy yet he continued to satisfy his flesh until the truth of his secret was revealed. Sampson told Delilah his strength was in his hair and that brought his demise. He was captured, and his eyes were gouged out, and now he would become a show for the Philistines because his strength was gone. He was used as an animal to ground at the mill in their prison. Had Sampson learned to wait on the Lord I believe he would have done greater things and lived longer, but he didn't know how to wait. When we refuse to wait on the Lord, we too can grope around in the dark, being bound and subjected to people's opinions, and bound to the control of men and women. Even though Sampson's hair grew back and he eventually defeated the enemy it also cost him his life. I encourage you to weigh carefully what hangs in the balance in your "waiting" process and trust God to come through for you.
"A Christian without patience is like a soldier without arms."- Thomas Watson
