“Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.” Judges 16:6 (NIV)
STRENGTH SERIES – PART 3
Samson's birth was foretold by an Angel, he was given supernatural strength and was to never cut his hair as a sign of his devotion to God. If he did, he would loose his strength. It’s easy to read Samson’s story flat… “A man with great strength reveals its secret to a woman, who betrays him” and think, “If I had his gift, I would never do that.”
But as with stories, there are many different twists and turns. When you give Samson’s story (Judges 13-16) colour and movement, you see a man with an incredible gift struggle mentally and spiritually under its weight. In the end, it was his undoing.
It’s a tragic story of the rusty nature of pride.
What we give ourselves too grows stronger. If you’re an athlete, the more you train, the fitter you become. If you’re an artist, the more you practise, the more creativity flows. etc.
Your strength’s power doesn’t reside in and of itself, but comes through the humble art of discipline and development. Devotion. You could say that the growth and control of your strength or gift comes from your mental capacity to discipline yourself and practice. Say yes to the right things and no to the wrong things.
Samson’s pride took over, and his shaky devotion dried up completely. He began to rely solely on his own physical abilities and let his mental capacity wonder where it would.
“What’s the secret of your strength?” he was asked, and eventually he gave it away thinking it wouldn’t make any difference. He completely misunderstood that the residence of his strength was not in his arms, but in his devotion to God. Delilah betrayed him, cut his hair, and Samson’s strength left him.
Never cutting his hair was a symbol of his devotion to God. His strength flowed into him supernaturally through a divine connection with God that was severed with the symbolic cutting of his hair.
Pride corroded his strength spiritually and physically, until humility and hope brought him back to his feet and made him strong enough to stand one last time.
Strength's secret lies in devotion. It’s the constant driving force, the discipline to get back up when you fall, and the commitment to keep at it day in and day out.
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