So, who's really in charge?

Samson's birth, life and death fill just four chapters in the Old Testament book of Judges. We read of his miraculous birth and promising future in chapter 13. Then, in the following three chapters, we watch this spoiled and selfish young man jeopardising and ultimately sabotaging his own destiny - all because of his lack of character.

Fits of temper and rage; bouts of self pity and sulking; arrogant boasting where he takes the credit for what God has done; hanging out with prostitutes, lustful and unhealthy relationships with women.... all of these character weaknesses combine to bring Samson down and rob him of the wonderful future that God had planned for him.

In Judges 15:20, we read a tragic one sentence commentary on Samson's life: he was a judge in Israel for 20 years, but during all that time, the enemy still had the upper hand; the Philistines were still in charge. Samson never fully entered into his destiny of rescuing Israel from Philistine oppression.

May that sad epitaph never be true of my life or yours. May it never be said that I or you were a Christian for forty years, but never went the whole way in defeating the lies and strategies of the enemy.

Some of the character weakness that brought about Samson's downfall are still big dangers for us today: self-pity, anger, pride, lust and selfishness... Our sins and weaknesses may not be exactly the same as Samson's, but our enemy will exploit whatever weakness he can find to make us unfruitful and ineffective in our faith.

In particular, he will seek to do what the Philistines did to Samson in Judges chapter 16. He will try to sap our strength and steal our vision. When we're feeling physically tired and weak, or when we allow ourselves to lose sight of the purposes that God has for our lives, that's when we will be particularly vulnerable to the manipulation and oppression of the enemy.

Samson may have ended his life with a dramatic finale (he killed more Philistines in his death than he did in his life) but he was a broken man, who had completely missed out on the victorious life that God had wanted for him.


May you and I never live our lives in that same defeated way. The antidote lies in radical obedience and in holding on to the faithfulness of God.