2023_06_21 Insight Post- Rusty Coram
This week’s reading- Judges 2, Judges 13-16
Reading through the chapters in Judges this week, we encounter a pretty wild ride. Israel repeatedly strayed from their devotion to God, and as a result, they “reap what they sow” in pain and suffering at the hands of the Philistines. (And the Philistines were a source of pain for them for many generations to come.) In His kindness, God responds with undeserved compassion and provides them a deliverer in a man named Samson. Samson had good parents, great promise, super-human strength, and an equally matched ego. In many ways, he seems to be a predecessor of Tony Stark and Iron Man. Both have extraordinary abilities, but more often than not, they let their appetites and egos rule. Despite their flaws, they help others, but that isn’t their primary motive.
Samson shows us something about God that is surprising and encouraging. The ungodly Philistines were in need of judgment, and God was going to provide it. From the announcement of his birth, Samson was the person God had chosen to use to accomplish this. It would have been great if Samson had been devoted to God and His work, but since he wasn’t, God used Samson’s character flaws to get things done. But let’s be clear that this by no means lessens Samson’s sin and failure – and he owns that.
Samson had both super strength and super weaknesses. If he had been a man of God-honoring character and integrity, God could have used him in a different way, but even with Sampson’s massive failures, God did what He planned all along.
As we read about him, let Samson’s story be two things: (1) a warning about letting our desires rule our life instead of deep devotion to God. The loss, pain, and suffering in Samson’s life directly resulted from that and (2) a reminder that God is not limited in accomplishing His purposes. Our flaws and failures matter and have consequences, but our faults do not hinder God. Throughout history, He has worked through broken people who, at times, have failed – Abraham, Moses, Miriam, Aaron, and others we’ve read about this year prove that. Let’s you and I decide that we will voluntarily yield to God so He can work with us and not despite us!
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek His will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take.
Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom.
Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil.” Proverbs 3:5–7 (NLT)
Rusty Coram
Senior Pastor