God uses sinful people for His purposes

Samson 

Do you remember being told the story of Samson? How that little Delilah cut his hair and he lost all his strength? But, did you know there’s more to this story? Samson had a weakness for women that caused him tremendous problems, but God used his sin for His glory. 

First of all, lets look at the birth of Samson, Judges chapter 13 verse 2-5 “A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was childless, unable to give birth.  The angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, “You are barren and childless, but you are going to become pregnant and give birth to a son.  Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean.  You will become pregnant and have a son whose head is never to be touched by a razor because the boy is to be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from the womb. He will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”

Samson had a calling on his life, he would lead and deliver the Israelites from the Philistines! Now that is some responsibility, right? Samson was special, God had chosen him to lead his people. So, where did it all go left? 

Judges 14, Samson sees a beautiful Philistine girl and tells his parents, “get her for me.” You could say this was sort of like love at first sight! “Samson went down to Timnah and saw there a young Philistine woman. 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.” Cute, isn’t it? Well let’s carry on then we’ll see if it’s cute. Verse 3-4, “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.) 

Some people would say Samson showed a sinful disregard for God’s will and his parents, when we read Deuteronomy 7: 3-4, it says, “Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, for they will turn your children away from following me to serve other gods, and the Lord’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you.” He was so focused on his romantic feelings, he was making human choices that were not Godly choices and sometimes, there are times we demand things from God that are out of His will. We shout and scream and cry because our flesh tells us this is what we want but God tells us that it’s not what we need. 

Have you ever demanded a spouse from God that is out of His will? I have, I used to pray that God would make this certain guy my husband knowing full well that God told me no. I argued and shouted at God because my flesh enjoyed him, but my spirit, my spirit was in pain. I didn’t listen but God used that situation like Samson and turned things around for me. Some good came out of Samson’s ungodly marriage, many, many Philistines were killed as a result however, this doesn’t justify Samson’s action or my actions. Even though God can make the most evil person serve his purpose, it does not, and never will justify that evil the man does. 

Now, let’s go to Judges 16:1, Samson has a thing with a prostitute, he has such an immature spirituality, just like us. “One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute. He went in to spend the night with her.” Guys, Samson was in obvious sin here, no one can tell me what he did was justifiable! He was sinning and, in my opinion, it looks like it didn’t phase him. Do you do that sometimes? You sin and it just doesn’t phase you, you just carry on doing what you’re doing? Ey, be careful because God is watching, do you realise how our sins hurt God? Samson is an example of how even God’s people can sin blatantly. We want to be used by God, but we are still sinning. Samson kept all the external features of his Nazarite vow but look here, he was in bed with a prostitute, a blatant sin! Samson did what we all do when we are deceived by sin. Guys, you can’t put your life in categories or in groups and say, “oh God only cares about this category so I’ll focus on this,” then live the rest of your life how you want, it doesn’t work that way, it really doesn’t. God cares about ALL your life, not SOME, ALL! 

Don’t become a slave to sin, do you know what the wages of sin are? Its death, sin leads to death. Samson’s bad choices came back to haunt him, but God was still merciful, God used his actions to bring glory to his name but, no one can deny that Samson did not sin, no one can deny that he did wrong in the eyes of the Lord. Sin can really affect your calling guys, you may end up in a place that God didn’t intend you to end up but you have chosen that route because you have chosen to disobey God. Sometimes it’s not God who takes us to those places, it’s our sin, our choices, and God uses those situations like he did for Samson. 

Obey the will of God, don’t take a detour. You may still end up at the right destination, but the journey will be even more difficult than the intended one.

With Love,

Faith / Author (Upfront Faith / I Can't Embrace the Wilderness )