07/01/2026
Scripture: Judges 13–16; Ephesians 5:14–16
“Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
— Ephesians 5:14
Anyone who has tried to wake a sleeping teenager knows it is rarely a one-time event. The gentle “rise and shine” of the early years gives way, soon enough, to a louder and more urgent “WAKE UP!” Samson’s life follows the same arc. It begins with the promise of “rise and shine” and ends with the alarm of “The Philistines are upon you!”
Samson was set up well. He was born through a miraculous birth to an older couple, set apart by the Nazirite vow, and filled with God’s Spirit and astonishing strength. He had every gift imaginable. Yet his story is a sobering one, because his primary driver in life was simply what pleased him—and he would not let his parents, his calling, or even God get in the way of what he wanted.
Time and again, the people who loved Samson tried to wake him to his calling, and time and again he refused. He chased what was forbidden, broke the vows that set him apart, and grew comfortable in the very captivity he was called to break.
Here is a truth worth pausing over: God still used Samson powerfully even when Samson’s heart was not right with Him. Do not ever assume that because God is working through you, all is well between you and Him. Success and spiritual usefulness can quietly make us proud and complacent. This deception has blinded many leaders in the church.
Samson’s downward trajectory is the trajectory of all sin. It may begin with small compromises and clever justifications, but it never stays small.
Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.
In Samson’s case, it did so literally: sin bound him, sin set him grinding in prison, and sin blinded him. He had grown so at home in his disobedience that, like Israel, he did not even know he needed deliverance.
And yet. Tucked into the darkest moment of the story is one of Scripture’s quietest miracles: “But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.”
Notice when it began—not when Samson repented in the temple, but the very moment it was shorn away. God’s mercy was already at work before Samson ever turned back. His mercies, like Samson’s hair, grow new every morning; they persist even where sin has cut them down.
It is never too late to cry out to God. Blinded, bound, and brought low, Samson finally prayed:
“Sovereign Lord, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me just once more.”
God answered.
The same grace waits for us. However many times we have walked away, His mercy keeps playing in the background of our lives like a familiar song we never quite forgot—a melody of amazing grace, growing even where sin has silenced it.
Samson’s life ultimately teaches us that the world needed someone greater than Samson; the strong are simply not strong enough.
Eleven centuries later, Jesus came. Like Samson, He was born miraculously, betrayed by a false friend, handed over to His oppressors, chained and mocked, and died with His arms outstretched. But unlike Samson, Jesus was not bound for His own sin—He was bound for ours. Samson was a strong man made weak by his own rebellion; Jesus was the mighty God who willingly became weak to free us from the chains of ours.
If we are honest, we are all a bit like Samson—driven by our impulses, prone to compromise, quick to live for ourselves. But the good news is that Christ accepts us freely by grace, even when our lives look far more like Samson’s failures than Jesus’ faithfulness. That grace is what frees us from the very impulses that once held us captive.
So, wherever this June finds you—perhaps recognizing your own downfalls and whispering “guilty”—hear the word God still speaks:
He has a purpose for you.
He can restore the years the locust has eaten and rewrite even our worst disasters into stories of redemption. Where night has kept us asleep in the dark, the Son has come to wake us up.
Reflect
Where have I grown comfortable in something God has called me to leave behind?
Today, I will stand up and embrace His amazing grace—trusting that His mercy has been growing back in me all along.
Prayer
Father, open our hearts as You open Your Word. Wake us from our sleep, strengthen us once more, and let Christ shine on us.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
A Personal Word to the Heartland Conference
It was a true joy and honor to be invited to serve as one of your preachers at your Annual Conference, and I am deeply grateful for the welcome you extended to me.
Thank you for the privilege of sharing God’s Word with you. My prayers remain with the Heartland Conference as you surrender yourselves anew to the Lord and as He builds His kingdom through each one of you.
May He wake us, strengthen us, and let Christ shine through all that you do.
This was on the conference page, written by Rev Heather Sims, and I thought it was worth sharing.
Hope everyone enjoys US Soccer tonight!!!
Go Team USA!!!
-Pastor Steve
