Samson ChallengeSample

Samson was clearly suffering from a case of ‘love at first sight’, although after reading the end of this chapter, we’d probably say that ‘love is indeed blind’. We can assume that Samson knew nothing about this woman who he wanted to make his wife, other than the fact that she was a Philistine, the daughter of ‘uncircumcised’ people. In other words, she was someone who did not believe in the God of Israel, but Samson was determined to get her.

Marrying outside of one’s religion, culture or race was an issue even in the Old Testament. Aside from faith, differences in culture or race are petty reasons to give up the one God has shown you to marry, especially as the Word says, ‘there is neither Jew nor Gentile…’ we are all one in Christ.

In our generation, parents and elders tend to be the ones that perpetuate such ‘traditional’ restrictions on who you can marry. Sometimes people will oppose your relationship when they can’t see the vision or purpose behind it, just like Samson’s parents didn’t know that God wanted Samson to fall for the Philistine woman to accomplish his purpose of weakening the Philistines (Judges 14:4).

Now, this isn’t an excuse or an encouragement to date or marry someone who doesn’t share your Christian faith. This is an encouragement to those who are in Christ-centred relationships with a purpose, but are facing opposition from family members or friends because of petty reasons such as race, take heart. Let purpose keep you going!

It is very interesting to see that as Samson was pursuing his purpose (the Philistine woman), he had to defeat a Lion in order to get through to his bride. The Lion could be seen as a symbol of the extra opposition that we face when we approach our purpose or vision. Have you ever been in a position where you are doing God’s work, chasing the vision but find yourself facing so many obstacles? Believe that as long as the work is God-focused, as long as the idea that you are pursuing is a God-idea and not just a good idea, as long as the vision is God-given; He will give you the power to overcome any obstacle, just like He did for Samson.

Share your thoughts on Day 2 #SamsonChallenge