Fight Devotional For MenParaugs

The Blind Side

Men like to be liked, but it’s not everything for us. Most of our value doesn’t come from relationships. It comes from accomplishments: How do I measure up? Did I do well? Did I WIN?

Most men don’t want to fail…even once. We want to measure up and be successful at anything we try. That’s why we don’t like to play if we don’t think we can win. It’s typically when we don’t live up to our expectations—or to someone else’s—that regret sets in: I WISH I had ___. I SHOULD have done ___. Why didn’t I ___?

Samson was the poster boy for the Wish You Would Have, Could Have, Should Have Foundation. Samson’s tragedy was that he failed to be all that he might have been, if he had just been willing to learn from his mistakes the first time. (Can you imagine?) Here’s what we’ll see as we read about Samson’s end today:

A man’s greatest fear is failure, and his greatest pain is regret.

Have you ever failed? If you answered yes, cheer up! You’re in good company. Failure is an event, never a person. Don’t internalize a failure until it starts to ferment into regret. Own it. Learn from it. Pain can be a great teacher.

No matter how badly you’ve messed up in your life, there’s no way you’ve failed more than Samson did. Did Samson bring shame on himself? No doubt. But he did something much worse: he let down an entire nation. (Have you done that? It seems like I would have seen it on the news if so.) Samson betrayed his vows…and his Lord. He let his pride and his selfish desires derail him again and again, until finally, he lost everything. But even then, God still wasn’t done with him:

“…but the hair on his head began to grow again…"

Just because you’re down doesn’t mean you’re out. Not by a long shot. Even in our failures, God can still accomplish his purpose. It’s through our weaknesses that he shows himself strong.

Want different results? Then you’re going to have to do something different. In the end of Samson’s story, as you’ll see, he finally used his strength for God’s purposes instead of his own.

If you’re a Christian, you have resurrection power within you. Tap into it. Don’t try just to “be a stronger man.” Satan loves making strong men weak. God loves making weak men strong. Don’t try just to “be a better man.” Be God’s man. Stop trying to tell your story. Start telling his. It’s not about you. It’s about him. Push those pillars down. Die to yourself so you can live for him.