Where is your strength? Have you ever thought about it? When you look into scripture nobody had physical strength that compared to Samson. Samson is that man that tore a lion apart with his bare hands (Judges 14:6). He is the one that went out and killed thirty men for their clothes (Judges 14:19). At a different occasion Samson caught three hundred foxes, tied torches between their tails, and let them go in the fields of the Philistines (Judges 15:4-5). Even when he was bound with ropes and delivered to the Philistines, his strength was put on display as he escaped the ropes and bonds and killed one thousand men with the jawbone of a donkey (Judges 15:14-15). As you can see from just a few examples Samson was incredibly strong, or was he?
Yes, it is true that strength was demonstrated in many of Samson’s actions. He did things that most people by themselves would not be able to do. But in these actions was he acting alone? He had strength, but did his strength just come from the power of his arms? Where was Samson’s true strength? Where did it come from?
As we look carefully at the life of Samson, we see something that even Samson himself seemed to overlook for a while or just not cherish. Samson’s strength came from God. Samson knew this, but in a moment of weakness he told the untrustworthy Delilah about his hair and his Nazarite vow (Judges 16:17). With his hair shaved off, he by himself was no match for the Philistines for “he did not know that the Lord had departed from him.” (Judges 16:20).
After some time, and Samson’s hair had begun to regrow, Samson would call on God one more time to give him the strength to defeat the Philistines. We see that with the push of his arms and really the power of God, Samson was able to kill more Philistines in his death than he had in his entire life (Judges 16:28-30).
There are several lessons we can learn from the life of Samson, and one of those lessons is strength. Right now, your life may be going exactly how you want it to, or right now it may seem like nothing is going right. No matter where you find yourself this day and every day to follow, ask yourself this one question, “Where is your strength?”, and then step back and realize that your strength is in the Lord and He will see you through.
The strength we see in the life of Samson is the strength of God and the strength that can be had by relying on Him. This does not mean God is going to give you some superhero strength like Samson to lift up the gates or walls in any modern city, but if you will trust God and faithfully obey His commands you can have all of the strength that you will ever need, and God will see you through (Philippians 4:13).
Derek Broome