For the last few Sundays, we have looked at the story of one of the most famous characters in all of the Old Testament – Samson. (Judges 13-16)
Here was a man with tremendous potential. He had Godly parents, supernatural strength, and the Lord’s favor. He literally had more gifts and more advantages than anyone else in his era. He was born and called and used by God to serve as a living picture of divine deliverance and as a witness for the Lord. His birth was supernatural; he suffered for the sake of his people. Everything about him was amazing. He is very much considered a messiah-like figure in every way but one: He let his personal emotions get the best of him, which, in turn, caused him to reject the Lord’s blessings and turn away from his Lord and his faith.
Scripture records several disastrous spiritual lapses in Samson’s life. He was especially prone to the kind of carnal failure that stems from unbridled lust, blended with a lack of personal discipline. He could not control his fleshly desires and, being a strong-willed man, he set himself up to fall into the hands of the deceitful Delilah to be captured by his enemy, the Philistines. He lost all his strength and his spirit for the Lord. In fact, in Judges 16:20, it is noted that the Lord had left him.
Samson went from the top of the mountain down into the valley of temptation. He continually would get out of trouble and then get right back into trouble again. He never learned to control his emotions so, apparently, his emotions controlled him.
We have all said and done things in our past that we feel awful about. We all have regrets and we all have had those times where we have hurt or ignored others, but the most important thing we can learn from the story of Samson is that no matter how far we have fallen, no matter how far we have run away, and no matter how much bad stuff we have done, we cannot ever get far enough away from God that He will not find us. God is always here for us because He loves us. For God showed His love for us by sacrificing His Son for us. (Romans 5:8)
God loved and knew you before the foundations of the world. (Ephesians 1:4) As the great ancient theologian Augustine once said, “God loves each one of us as though there were only one of us.”
The most heroic thing Samson ever really did was turn his life around and give up his life for the Lord. The story of Samson is a story about God’s continual grace and mercy. It is available to all. You can be restored and reconciled to the Lord by putting all your hope, faith and trust in Him, for the Lord is gracious and merciful. Even though Samson had at times cursed, ignored and turned his back upon the Lord, the Lord still took him back because… For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God. (Ephesians 2:8)
The beauty of God’s grace and mercy is that it is available to all of us. We just have to accept it, believe it and receive it.
God is available to you today. Right now might be the exact moment in which God has been waiting for you to come back to Him. If you just confess your sins to God and ask for His forgiveness, God will take you back right now.
So, where are you today with the Lord? Perhaps we can look to the story of Samson for inspiration when we call out to the Lord, “Lord, remember me this day.” (Judges 16:28)
“Remember me, Lord, when you show favor to your people. Come to my aid when you save them.” (Psalm 106:4)
Pastor Mark