This week I attended a children’s chapel where the pastor was talking about Samson. As he discussed this story, I began to think about FOCUS.
You see, Samson was set apart from birth for God’s special purpose. An angel came to Samson’s childless mother and told her that she would conceive a son. This visit shows just how special Samson would be. God didn’t often send angels with such a task. (There were only a few other times in Scripture when an angel announced that a child would be conceived. One time was with Sarah and Abraham. Another was when Gabriel announced the birth of John the Baptist. The other was with Mary, the mother of our dear Savior. )
The angel told Samson’s mother that her son would “begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines” (Judges 13:5) and gave very specific instructions to her. Her son would be a Nazarite. This meant he could not consume fermented drinks, eat unclean meat, or cut his hair. This wasn’t a magic recipe, but a vow. Samson was to be a Nazarite from birth until death. It was not a vow that Samson took by choice; God chose this for him. By fulfilling his vow, Samson would show his love and dedication to God.
As Samson grew, it became apparent that he was, indeed, special. He was so strong that he was able to overpower a lion and kill it with his bare hands. No regular man could do that. God was the source of Samson’s great strength!
Although Samson was set apart by his vow and special because of his miraculous physical strength, he was still a sinful human. As such, his eyes began to wander. He fell in love with a woman who did not love the Lord. He put his love for Delilah above his love for God.
Samson loved Delilah, but she only pretended to love him. She used him. Delilah sold Samson out to his enemies. She cut his hair, causing him to lose his strength, and he was captured. His captors put out his eyes and mocked him.
Samson lost his focus long before the Philistines put his eyes out. He had taken his eyes off of the eternal prize, and all he could see was Delilah. He had to have her. His faith didn’t matter, nor did his vow; his only concern was that he have that woman for his wife. And he got her! But they didn’t live happily ever after.
It has been said that where we put our focus is the direction we tend to go. For me this is very true. If I am driving (or sometimes even walking) and I get distracted and look off to the side, I will suddenly find myself headed toward whatever it is that has caught my eye. So far this hasn’t caused a car accident for me. I have, however, come close at times. I must confess that while walking, distraction has caused me to head into walls and doorframes and run into or trip over furniture. I am good at multitasking in the social and household areas, but as a not-so-coordinated person, gross motor activities require my total attention.
The same is true for me spiritually. Every day I fall in love with worldly things. At different times in my life the distractions have been different. But the heart of the problem is always my heart and who or what it loves the most. Like Samson, I take my eyes off of the eternal prize and the Savior who has won it for me. I focus on earthly things and love them more than that dear Savior.
These days I would say that my most critical distraction is my own collection of wants for my family. I don’t want God to have a plan for us. I want my own way. Just as Samson did, I stop seeking God’s will for us and make plans of my own. No, I am not chasing after an eligible Philistine, but I do chase dreams that become more important to my heart than my God. If I want something badly enough, then of course God MUST want me to have it, right? Not necessarily!
Maybe it would be easier to accept God’s plan for my life if an angel had come to announce it. My sinful heart continues to rebel against God’s desires and plan. I want him to have my desires as his. I often find myself envying the big families and healthy children of others and thinking that of course this SHOULD be what God wants for me. I have been kind, loving, and hard-working; doesn’t that entitle me? Why should he give so many healthy children to families who don’t even lovingly nurture them the way that I would? Why them and not me? This cannot really be his plan!
The questions that my heart rebels with are logical to the human mind. Yet, God isn’t a genie who offers us three wishes. He offers us something better – an eternity in heaven with him. Through his Son, we will share in this blissful eternity. We are not here on this earth to live out our wishes and dreams. We are here to serve this AMAZING GOD who knows the number of hairs on each of our heads. He is the purpose, and when our purpose is anything other than glorifying him in our every action, we have lost our focus.
The wonderful thing for us (and Samson!) is that God knows our fickle sinful nature . . . and he loves us anyway. Knowing that fickle nature, he has given us his Word, the sacraments, and a Christian family to encourage us on our earthly walk. When our eyes stray from him and our steering begins to veer, we are fed with God's Word, redirected, and reminded of his forgiveness by loving Christian friends. God continually blesses us in our earthly lives with so many wonderful people and physical blessings to support us through the journey. What a gracious God that he daily blesses wandering hearts with such riches!
In I Corinthians 6:19-20, we are told, “You are not your own; you were bought at a price.” The price was Jesus' blood on the tree of Calvary. He beat the devil for us and rose in victory. We are his. Our children are his. Our lives are his.
Just like Samson was perfectly made for God’s purpose, so are you and I, your children and mine. He designed every part of us for his distinct purpose. He designed every part of each of our children for his distinct purpose. Even though Samson screwed up big time with his loss of focus and suffered great consequences for it, God still used him.
Samson came back to the Lord. He was blind and a prisoner when he implored the Lord not to let the Philistines win and tarnish the name of the true God. With that repentance, God forgave Samson and allowed his strength to return one last time. The power was not in his uncut hair, but in his GREAT God. He pulled the pillars down at the Philistines’ grand victory celebration, and they all lost their lives. The victory did not belong to the Philistines but to the Lord! The Lord and his great power were made famous through the life of such an unfocused man!
God is using our lives and our children’s in the same way. We are not set apart as Nazarites. We don’t have superhuman physical strength. We do each have special qualities and capabilities that God designed perfectly for his purpose. As he uses us for his purpose, let us pray that through time in God’s Word our wills become more like his so that our hearts do not rebel at his plans, but rejoice in them! Let us pray that he is made famous through our lives and those of our children. Let us live each day as if we remember the price that he paid for us. We are his. May he help us to live like it.
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