You’ve heard the saying, “When someone shows you who they are, believe them.” It’s not your job to try and fix them, remember you’re not Jesus. Yes, God calls us to love, but love doesn’t mean you give them access to your life.
Now let me tell you, it goes much deeper than this. How about when you know something is a real temptation for you, but you keep flirting with it. How about when you know something isn’t right for you, but you keep doing it. How about when you know God has told you to shut it down, but you keep opening it back up. What eventually happens is we create a very unnecessary mess in our lives and the lives of others. Then that mess just explodes.
Honestly, has that happened to you? You knew they weren’t right … you knew this wasn’t right … you knew that needed to stop, but you kept going, you kept looking, you kept texting, you kept picking it back up. And here you are today, in a real explosion of a mess that’s embarrassing, painful, expensive, and feels impossible to fix.
Well, you’re not the first person to ever make a mistake like this. Have you ever heard of the story of Samson? You know, he was kind of the Fabio of the Bible. A man with long hair and supernatural strength, and the ladies liked him. (Side note, if you don’t know who Fabio is, you clearly didn’t live through the 90’s. Fabio got his start as the model for the cover of romance novels. Then he became the spokesperson for ‘I can’t believe it’s not butter.’ I know this much, my mama bought that stuff!) Okay, so in my mind, Samson is kind of like the Fabio of the Bible.
He had supernatural strength that could not be stopped, and long flowing hair. He single-handedly began rescuing the Isralites from their enemy, the Philistines. And this was all by God’s design. In fact, before Samson was even created, God had aligned his purpose. There was a man and woman who could not have children. They had tried everything to get pregnant and still no baby. Then, God sends an angel to speak to the woman and the angel gives her very specific instructions. In Judges 13:5, The angel said, “You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and his hair must never be cut. For he will be dedicated to God as a Nazirite from birth. He will begin to rescue Israel from the Philistines.”
So, sure enough, the impossible happens and this barren woman has a son. They named him Samson and kept the commitment to never cut his hair. Scripture says God blessed him as he grew up and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him.
He grew so strong his enemies feared him. He was unstoppable. Any rope they tied him in, he broke. Any army they sent against him, he destroyed. One time his only weapon was the jawbone of a donkey and he killed a thousand of the enemy. And they knew, his strength was special, it wasn’t natural. The Philistines knew the only way they could defeat him was to find out the secret to his strength.
Samson fell in love with a beautiful woman named Delilah. Delilah was easily swayed by the enemies and sold out to them. They offered her money in exchange for enticing Samson to tell what makes him so strong and how they could overpower him. And so it begins.
Delilah begins pestering Samson. She pokes at him, nags at him, begs him. Judges 16:16, “She tormented him with her nagging day after day until he was sick to death of it.” And finally he gives in and tells her the truth. “My hair has never been cut, for I was dedicated to God as a Nazirite from birth. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as anyone else.”
So, guess what happens? That night, she lulls Samson to sleep with his head in her lap, then she calls in a man to shave his head while he’s sleeping. And verse 19 says,