So Samson was our first superstar in the Bible. He had fame, looks, and most of all he was powerful. Not just in the political sense, but literally he was the strongest man alive. He had it ALL, but he also had a big EGO to go with it. You see his pride was his big issue, probably like a lot if us today.
We see in verse 16 Delilah had finally nagged enough, (that's another blog in itself) and Samson told her the secret to his strength. At this point I wish I could go back in time and slap Samson, and say, "Really??? Like you didn't get it the 1st time? I mean dude you're killing me...you are killing me Smalls!!"
After the Phillistines capture Samson they gouged his eyes out and then the Bible says in verse 21 that they put him to grinding in prison. This was a huge grinding wheel that Samson would have to push in a circle over and over to crush grain. So now we find our hero is blind, powerless, and walking in circles.
Wow that sounds like us sometimes. We feel defeated because we live in this rut, or we let our pride get in the way of us really connecting to the Father, and then we become blind, powerless, and walking in circles.
What find so cool about this story is verse 22. This verse starts out with the word BUT, and that's an amazing word in this passage. The word BUT tells us there's hope for Samson. It tells us that God was not through with our hero. We see that Samson's hair began to grow back, and that was a symbol that God was with Samson.
So, If you feel that you are blind, powerless, and walking circles just know there is a BUT in your story, and His name is Jesus. He can give you hope. He can deliver you from your enemies. He can you give you sight, power, and steps with purpose!!
John
What an encouraging thought to remember.Thanks for writing something that i so desperately needed to hear today!
ReplyDeleteI'm so thankful that i have a BUT! *har har* i know what i said:)
Nice Sandlot reference!
ReplyDeleteThere's something I didn't understand about this chapter. I believe that when Sampson asked for God's strength to "get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes" (v.28), isn't Sampson asking for God's help for all the wrong reasons? If so, then why did God give Sampson the strength to carry out that revenge?
Vince, that's a great question! We've been sitting around the dinner table talking about that as a family and here was the McCabe's two cents..."Are all of our requests to God for help always pure?" When we really thought through that, most of the time our requests are selfish, mean-spirited, etc... In my small, human understanding of God, I think God works alongside of our human-ness and our misguided cries for help and accomplishes HIS plans to HIS glory.
ReplyDeleteBTW, is it my imagination or did John call Jesus a but? :)
I was going to blog tonight...."BUT" I forgot what I was going to say.
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree with the McCabe's take on that part of the scripture. I love that God works through and even around our human-ness. Also remember that these countries were at war with one another, so God in renewing Samson's strength, He was also renewing to the Philistines that their gods were less superior to the God of Israel. Even in Samson's human-ness, he was longing to deliver Israel from the hands of her enemies, so much so he was willing to die for that cause. That's my 2 cents.
ReplyDeleteBTW Gina your funny!! hahahaha
-John
Gina,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the response. Makes sense.
I LOVE CEDARBROOK!! Only here do we hear The Beatles during worship BUT do not loose sight of WHO we worship! BTW, I think God delights in a good laughter! Was that the thunder I heard yesterday, God laughing with us?
ReplyDelete