JUDGES 16

Samson, Samson. What can you say about this guy? He was so stupid. He was so blind—both figuratively and (later on) literally. He was singled out to be God’s leader in Israel, but he couldn’t seem to keep to his Nazirite vow. When he wasn’t marrying heathen women, he was sleeping with prostitutes. He did nearly everything wrong, including the big one—finally telling Delilah the secret of his strength. Why would he do that? Had he become so narcissistic that he believed his strength lay within himself and not in God?

Regardless, once the hair on his head was cut (yet another violation of the Nazirite vow), he lost his strength completely. Finally, the Philistines had the opportunity to capture him. They gouged out his eyes and took him into captivity.

Now, the interesting thing is that, in Judges 14, we were let in on what God was planning to do through Samson: "His father and mother replied, 'Isn’t there an acceptable woman among your relatives or among all our people? Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines to get a wife?' But Samson said to his father, 'Get her for me. She’s the right one for me.' (His parents did not know that this was from the Lord, who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines; for at that time they were ruling over Israel.)" (vs 3-4)

God wanted to confront the Philistines, and Samson was His man. But Samson couldn’t manage to stay true to his calling. I mean, who knows what the original plan was? Who knows what would have happened if Samson had never shot off his mouth at his wedding reception and then gone off on a killing rampage? We’ll never know. However, just because Samson may not have followed the original plan doesn’t mean that God was unable to use him.

And in this chapter, we see that Samson—even for all his philandering—came to the point where, in the end, he accomplished God’s will for his life. He not only confronted the Philistine power structure, he demolished it—wiping out all the rulers of the Philistines in one fell swoop.

It made me think of the nation of Israel and how God accomplished His purpose through them, even though they were not faithful to Him. His purpose for them was to witness to the heathen nations. Originally, the plan was that they would do this through their interactions with the nations—since occupying the Promised Land would mean that most of the region’s trade would pass through their territory. However, the Israelites did not remain faithful to God long enough to even occupy the land, let alone become a shining beacon of God’s truth.

Thus, God had to accomplish His purpose through the opposite outcome for the Israelites. As they were captured by their enemies and carried off into captivity, the knowledge of the God of heaven spread throughout the heathen nations. God was accomplishing His purpose through the Israelites, even though they had opted for Plan B instead of Plan A.

Here’s the point: God is working out His plan, regardless of the circumstances. It was true in the case of Samson. It was true in the case of the Israelites. And it’s also true for our lives. God is not limited by our circumstances. He is such a genius, He can work out His plan in any number of different scenarios.

So, don’t you think it’s time to stop worrying about your circumstances? Don’t you think it’s time to stop worrying about your mistakes? Instead, let us focus all our attention on God—this marvelous God who has a wonderful plan for us and is more than able to work it out, no matter how many mistakes we make. He is a genius and so worthy to be praised!