06/02/2026
“Voices of Tunnel Hill: A Member Devotional”
Judges 16:21–22 But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.
Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.
Sometimes on our Christian journey we find ourselves, like Samson, overcome by the enemy and held captive in the prison house of despair, grinding the grains of sin and regret that we have sown in error. It feels like an endless cycle when you're treading the same ground over and over again, chained to the millstone of discouragement with the chains of hopelessness and the shackles of defeat. And that is where the enemy wants you to be and stay. He knows that as long as you don't try to break free, he's got you. That's why he does his best to keep you discouraged.
He already knows what we oftentimes fail to see: that God saw our mistakes, but He will forgive us of them as soon as we ask. Most of the time, it just comes down to forgiving ourselves, getting back up, and moving forward.
Jesus told Peter that Satan hath desired him to sift him as wheat and that he would deny Him three times. He also told him that when he was converted, to strengthen the brethren. His grace was already there for Peter, patiently waiting on the other side of repentance for Peter to find it. For where sin abounds, grace does much more abound.
We don't know how long Samson was chained to the millstone, but the Bible says that the hair of his head began to grow again. I believe that as his hair began to grow, grace also began to grow in his heart. Whether it was just stubble, or enough time had passed for it to grow into locks, Samson was reminded of his Nazarite vow and found grace once again. His last victory was greater than all his other victories.
Your failure doesn't have to be final. Your mistakes don't have to define you. A lost battle doesn't mean the war is lost. His grace is sufficient for you. His mercies are new every morning.
If you've found yourself chained to the millstone in the prison house of despair, unable to rise above a past defeat, I pray that the Spirit of God will help you to realize the grace that Christ has extended to you and the forgiveness that He has purchased for you, and that you let today be the day that grace begins to grow again in your heart.
