Draw Near – 365 Guides to Greater Intimacy with GodSample

FROM THE RUINS

Henry Ward Beecher, who had known much sorrow in his own life, remarked, "There are many fruits that never turn sweet until the frost has lain upon them; there are many nuts that never fall from the bough of the tree of life till the frost has opened and reopened them; and there are many elements of life that never grow sweet and beautiful till sorrow touches them."

This was certainly true of Samson. Nicknamed "Little Sunshine," Samson was first a delight and then a shame to his parents. He was a willful child who insisted on his own way. He was determined to live life to the fullest. Naturally, the harvest of such a life is filled with sorrow; and soon we find him blind, bound, and deep in humiliation. He had started out with such great promise but ended up in disgrace.

Sorrow did something for Samson. In those final days of his life, he came to know God personally. His dying days were beautiful, and the Bible says he did more in his death than in all his life. Samson prayed in those last moments (Judges 16:25-31), and God heard him and answered. How much better it would have been if Samson had learned to pray long before that dark day when he was chained to the temple post.