Strength

“And his strength left him.”
Judges 16:19

Samson fell asleep on Delilah’s lap, not knowing that his strength would be gone when he woke up. He might have thought Delilah was playing some sort of game with him and wasn’t at all concerned about his safety. He was a man of supreme self-confidence who might have thought that he was invincible. Who could blame such a man who had absolute confidence in his own strength?

Our greatest strength can easily become our biggest weakness.

People who are endowed with intelligence may have an inclination to rely on themselves and believe that nothing is too difficult for them. Such people may accomplish much in their lives, but they will eventually hit a snag one way or another along the way and they won’t know what to do when it occurs. People who are not used to asking for help may become too arrogant to ask when they desperately need other people’s assistance. The ones who have never invoked divine aid their entire life will have difficulty praying when prayer becomes the last resort. Instead of praying for mercy, I believe there are many people who do what Job refused to do - curse God and die.

His supernatural strength was given to Samson, and it could easily be taken away. The man had always been strong his entire life; therefore, he had the wrong perception that it would always remain that way. Samson should have been more thankful for his gift than he was and guarded the secret of his divine power more closely than he did. Unfortunately he appeared to have a cavalier attitude toward his divine calling and the gifts that came along with it.

Beware of putting too much confidence in whatever strength you may have, natural or supernatural, or on God’s continual favor for you. What I am isn’t necessarily going to be what I will be. What we have is only the present and our future lies solely in God’s hand. Samson was the strongest man before he fell asleep in a woman’s lap, but he became the weakest person when he woke up. In a brief moment, Samson lost everything that he used to take for granted - his strength and his freedom.

Had Samson ever looked at himself with amazement and become overwhelmed by what the Lord had done for him? Had he ever thanked the Lord for his amazing power and learned to utilize his ability to bring glory to God? The biggest mistake that he committed was to take his supernatural nature too naturally. This is the mistake that we may be committing routinely.

All our natural abilities are, in fact, supernatural, and the way we perceive and utilize them tells who we really are. An infant who takes his first step is greatly amazed by his ability to walk, but as adults we have been walking for so long that the amazement is long lost and it probably won’t return until we manage to take a baby step after an accident or a stroke.