My Delilah

I just got done reading the story of Samson and Delilah. Samson sure was a pitiful character. Kind of a wanty, needy fellow who liked his women and also liked killing Philistines. Everybody has to have a hobby I guess.

He seemed to me to be angry and never satisfied with his life. It was almost as if he was frustrated by it. Do you have times when you feel frustrated with the way things are going? Unsatisfied with the results in life? How do we fix that?

First off, I don't think we should be doing what Samson did. His life was filled with lusts of the flesh and killing. That doesn't seem like what a man, devoted to God since his birth, should be up to.

If we go back through the story I think we can find the problem. I think it was his parents. They weren't strict enough.

"Samson went down to Timnah and saw there a young Philistine woman. 2 When he returned, he said to his father and mother, “I have seen a Philistine woman in Timnah; now get her for me as my wife.”
3 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.” - Judges 14:1-3

Pretty demanding for someone devoted to the Lord. He is supposed to honor his father and mother yet he defied their wishes and disobeyed God's command not to marry outside his people. But then we read this . . .

"4 (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.)" - Judges 14:4

God wanted Samson to do this? Confusing. Another question to ask when I get to heaven.

Later on in Samson's life he meets Delilah. Same song, different verse. Samson fell in love with someone who betrayed him. And that made me stop and reflect. Do I have a Delilah in my life?

It doesn't necessarily have to be a person. Is there something I love doing that distracts me from God's will for my life? What if it's eating things I shouldn't. I am a Type II diabetic. I shouldn't eat sweets, yet I do. We all struggle with things like that. They're called vices or addictions.

It could be gluttony, drinking, drugs, video games, sex, idolatry . . . there's all kinds of things distract us from God, yet we do them. Is that why we get frustrated? Frustrated like Samson did?

Since Adam and Eve Satan has been trying to keep us away from God. We ALL have something that does that for us. What is it in YOUR life? What is YOUR Delilah?

Delilah - Tom Jones