God Has The Power To Regrow Our Faith

Judges 16:21-22 - Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding grain in the prison.  But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.

Samson had let a woman entice him into a deep relationship.  It was so deep that he fell prey to her persistent questions about where his strength lay.  He was so overcome by his infatuation with her…he had no clue she was working for the enemy. He gave her the secret… she shaved his hair…and in no time the Philistines captured him. He became their servant…constantly grinding grain in heavy bronze shackles in the prison they held him in.

The phrase …began to grow again…caught in in my spirit as I read it….so I let myself stop mid chapter. It spoke strength to me in a time when my hometown is grieving heavily for the loss of so many things...most of all the 13 people God has allowed to pass to the other side of this earthly existence.

Leaders of our town our using phrases like “mountain strong’… to describe the same thing God did for Sampson.  Even though he lost his power…he still had the possibility of growing back the hair that gave him his strength. Sampson may have lost his resolve and fell to earthly temptations…but he did not lose the God that gave him his strength.

One other thought was planted as I read Matthew Henry’s commentary.  He said…”Oh that all who indulge in sin would see themselves surrounded and marked for ruin. The sounder they sleep the more secure they feel…and the greater the danger.”  The Bible clearly says in Romans 3:23 that all of us are sinners. Perhaps one reason God allowed Sampson to fall…and our town to go through such a devastating tragedy…is to keep him and us from being too complacent.

Father…thank you for the reminder that sin can lead to destruction…and only you have the power to regrow our faith after a fall or deep trial.  Forgive me for the times that I have allowed sin to remain in my life because I have let something here on Earth draw me away from you.  Help me to use this reminder to deepen my faith…to humble myself and pray…to listen closely to the servant tasks you need me to do for you to show your love to all who are hurting in this troubled world.  Amen.