The Instinct of Adventure: The Story of SamsonSample

Samson Betrayed

How did Samson not see it coming? Three times he told Delilah his secret and each time assassins jumped out to try and exploit it. At some point, you have to realize she must be in on it, right? But as was common with Samson, it was all a game. He never really gave away his secret, and each time his strength would return to free him.

It’s easy to shake your head at what appears to be Samson’s stupidity, but I don’t think you’re being completely honest. The danger is half the fun, half what we are really looking for. Something about the concoction of love, danger, and heroic escape keeps Samson playing along. We do it too. We routinely risk things we aren’t willing to lose in a game of walking the razor’s edge of our own vulnerabilities.

Eventually, Delilah pressed him harder for the truth, but not just for his secret. “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me?” she complained. Samson finally gave in and confessed that it was his hair. But he said something else. If his hair were to be cut, he would be like any other man.

I hear a note of longing in Samson’s confession, as he pours his heart out to a woman he really loved. Samson had always wanted to be normal, to be like the Philistines he was so enamored with. The tradition of his Nazarite vow had always been an anchor weighing him down and limiting his pursuit. He had betrayed that commitment over and over. He feasted at those drunken Philistine parties, and he routinely put his hand to the corpses of lions, donkeys, and men. All that remained of his commitment was his hair.

I can’t prove it, but I think Samson may have allowed Delilah to cut it off. He was done with it, done with everything he was called to be. He only wanted her and the life of his choosing.

Delilah betrayed him. She sold him out for wealth, but Samson participated in his own betrayal. Everything Samson had trusted had betrayed him. The eyes which drew him to Philistia. His need for an adventure called him into dangerous circumstances. His infatuation with the Philistines. Everything he trusted betrayed him.

It might seem silly to you that Samson didn’t see it coming, but that is always the way it goes for those who lack discernment. So many men are caught off guard by their own lack of discernment. Spend a life ignoring the prompts of the Spirit, and you’ll find yourself just as blindsided.

What’s so sad about Samson’s story is all of the wasted signs, wasted gifts, wasted divine encounters. The endless pursuit of the next adventure is like that, though. It doesn’t lead a person to greater insight and discernment. The endless restlessness betrays us and leaves us blind, dumb, and vulnerable.

The real work is in learning to recognize what God is doing here and now. Neglect this place, this moment, and you will atrophy your own discernment for what matters most. You will find yourself just as easily betrayed.

How does restlessness weaken your commitments and leave you vulnerable?