The Pride of Samson
“Delilah lulled Samson to sleep with his head in her lap, and then she called in a man to shave off the seven locks of his hair. In this way she began to bring him down, and his strength left him. Then she cried out, “Samson! The Philistines have come to capture you!” When he woke up, he thought, “I will do as before and shake myself free.” But he didn’t realize the Lord had left him. So the Philistines captured him and gouged out his eyes. They took him to Gaza, where he was bound with bronze chains and forced to grind grain in the prison.” —Judges 16:19-21 NLT
Samson is one of the many amazing and fun stories in Scripture. For three chapters in Judges, we read of Samson’s exploits, how he single-handedly beat the Philistines. They hated him but could seemingly do nothing to him. The Spirit of God would come upon Samson and do amazing things through him; yet along the way, Samson allowed the feats he accomplished to cause him to forget the Source of his strength.
You may think that the pride from all his accomplishments had caused his great fall. Basically, he had begun to drink his own kool aid. But the hard truth is that the accomplishments only brought to the surface what had been there all along.
Check these verses out….
“One day when Samson was in Timnah, one of the Philistine women caught his eye. When he returned home, he told his father and mother, “A young Philistine woman in Timnah caught my eye. I want to marry her. Get her for me.” His father and mother objected. “Isn’t there even one woman in our tribe or among all the Israelites you could marry?” they asked. “Why must you go to the pagan Philistines to find a wife?” But Samson told his father, “Get her for me! She looks good to me.” His father and mother didn’t realize the Lord was at work in this, creating an opportunity to work against the Philistines, who ruled over Israel at that time.” —Judges 14:1-4 NLT
I will admit that God used Samson’s pride and arrogance in this situation, but He does that all the time with us as well. Just because God, in His sovereignty, uses our jacked-up selves doesn’t mean He condones our behavior or calls righteous what’s in our hearts.
Success is the great revealer of what is actually in our heart.
What’s in your heart will rise to the surface, and success often expedites that process. Success reveals your true nature; it doesn’t hide it. Success magnifies what is really in the depths of our hearts.
Have you ever grown extremely close to God in times of distress or pain? We all have. The truth is that no one is looking for a Savior until we need saving. But after you encounter Him and He puts you back together, have you ever grown cold or distant from Him again? I have.
I stop needing Him like I once did, or at least, I think I don't need Him. I’ve thought and prayed on this a lot. Why do I do that? The truth of why is simple. It’s because of what’s really in my heart. Just like Samson, we all have things that our heart desperately wants. We have temptations, and those temptations can be different for all of us. But we must be aware of our weaknesses or we will always be susceptible to them.
Samson’s weakness was pride and women. It had always been that way; and finally, that temptation caught up to him. When God has repeatedly used you as a conduit for Him, it’s easy to forget our constant need for Him.
Whenever I read my Bible Plan and get to these verses, it always causes me to pause and ask God to show me what’s in my heart. I’ve come to realize that success does not mean I’m close to Him. In fact, at times, success is what reveals how far I am from Him.
I know it sounds ominous, but it’s real. Yes, He has promised to never leave me nor forsake me, but I have left Him and forsaken Him many times. I never want to step on stage and realize His presence is absent because I’ve entered into performance and forsaken relationship.
In reality, I have often done just that; and God, in His mercy, has loved me anyway and used me for His glory. I’ve just come to a place where I’m fully aware that the presence of success does not equal character, and our God is all about character.
“But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first!” —Revelation 2:4 NLT
He really just wants us to love Him and allow Him to love us. How about we let Him do that today.
Samson is one of the many amazing and fun stories in Scripture. For three chapters in Judges, we read of Samson’s exploits, how he single-handedly beat the Philistines. They hated him but could seemingly do nothing to him. The Spirit of God would come upon Samson and do amazing things through him; yet along the way, Samson allowed the feats he accomplished to cause him to forget the Source of his strength.
You may think that the pride from all his accomplishments had caused his great fall. Basically, he had begun to drink his own kool aid. But the hard truth is that the accomplishments only brought to the surface what had been there all along.
Check these verses out….
“One day when Samson was in Timnah, one of the Philistine women caught his eye. When he returned home, he told his father and mother, “A young Philistine woman in Timnah caught my eye. I want to marry her. Get her for me.” His father and mother objected. “Isn’t there even one woman in our tribe or among all the Israelites you could marry?” they asked. “Why must you go to the pagan Philistines to find a wife?” But Samson told his father, “Get her for me! She looks good to me.” His father and mother didn’t realize the Lord was at work in this, creating an opportunity to work against the Philistines, who ruled over Israel at that time.” —Judges 14:1-4 NLT
I will admit that God used Samson’s pride and arrogance in this situation, but He does that all the time with us as well. Just because God, in His sovereignty, uses our jacked-up selves doesn’t mean He condones our behavior or calls righteous what’s in our hearts.
Success is the great revealer of what is actually in our heart.
What’s in your heart will rise to the surface, and success often expedites that process. Success reveals your true nature; it doesn’t hide it. Success magnifies what is really in the depths of our hearts.
Have you ever grown extremely close to God in times of distress or pain? We all have. The truth is that no one is looking for a Savior until we need saving. But after you encounter Him and He puts you back together, have you ever grown cold or distant from Him again? I have.
I stop needing Him like I once did, or at least, I think I don't need Him. I’ve thought and prayed on this a lot. Why do I do that? The truth of why is simple. It’s because of what’s really in my heart. Just like Samson, we all have things that our heart desperately wants. We have temptations, and those temptations can be different for all of us. But we must be aware of our weaknesses or we will always be susceptible to them.
Samson’s weakness was pride and women. It had always been that way; and finally, that temptation caught up to him. When God has repeatedly used you as a conduit for Him, it’s easy to forget our constant need for Him.
Whenever I read my Bible Plan and get to these verses, it always causes me to pause and ask God to show me what’s in my heart. I’ve come to realize that success does not mean I’m close to Him. In fact, at times, success is what reveals how far I am from Him.
I know it sounds ominous, but it’s real. Yes, He has promised to never leave me nor forsake me, but I have left Him and forsaken Him many times. I never want to step on stage and realize His presence is absent because I’ve entered into performance and forsaken relationship.
In reality, I have often done just that; and God, in His mercy, has loved me anyway and used me for His glory. I’ve just come to a place where I’m fully aware that the presence of success does not equal character, and our God is all about character.
“But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first!” —Revelation 2:4 NLT
He really just wants us to love Him and allow Him to love us. How about we let Him do that today.
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