Samson ChallengeSample

After reading this chapter, I think it is safe to say that Samson had anger problems. ‘An eye for an eye’ was the business back then, literally, ‘do me, I do you’. Samson was extremely cheeky and prideful in the way that He dealt with the Philistines. Let’s revisit verse 16.

‘Then Samson said, "With a donkey's jawbone I have made donkeys of them. With a donkey's jawbone I have killed a thousand men."’(NCV)

Aside from Samson’s WWE strength, there is something else that we can learn from him that is often overlooked. Samson has a personality just like you and I. Verse 18 allows us to realise this:

‘Samson was now very thirsty, and he cried out to the LORD, "You have accomplished this great victory by the strength of your servant. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of these pagans?"’ (NLT)

Samson was real with God about his needs. He may have been overdramatic, but I love his realness and the way his personality is conveyed. Of course, we are to communicate with God with the utmost respect, but this passage reminds us that we don’t have to take on a different personality in our relationship or communication with God. If you’re generally bubbly, don’t feel like you have to suppress that when you communicate with God. Or if you are a quiet person, don’t feel like you have to force a ‘loud’ nature because everyone else is doing it.

There is a tendency to copy what we see other people doing in Church, thinking that it will make us more spiritual. God would rather you be YOU and not a version of Sister A or Brother B. He would rather have you speak to Him with words that come from your heart, words that you actually understand and not the ‘Christian jargon’ that we feel pressured to say. You might be feeling like you’re ‘not spiritual enough’ or saying to yourself, ‘I’m not doing well in my Christian life’…but by who's standard?

Your judgement of your Christian walk should be made in light of God’s word and not in light of other people. Don’t use human beings as the standard, God’s word is the standard. Don’t let anyone make you feel inferior about your relationship with God.

Share your thoughts #SamsonChallenge