But he did not know...

Saturday 4-2-16   Viedma, Prov of Rio Negro.

Scripture reading:  Judges 13 – 16     2 Cor 2

S=Scripture  O=Observation  A=Application  P=Prayer  SOAP for the soul.

S.  Judg 16:20 So he awoke from his sleep, and said, "I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!" But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him. NKJV

O.  Samson played a game with harlots and thought that he was so strong that he could get away with it.  He played with fire over and over again and came out winning many times.  Obviously his greatest weakness was his attraction to women.  Finally, Delilah pried from him his secret dedication to God from before his birth.  He had played his trump card... and with this, God stepped aside and let him fall prey to his enemies. 

A.  I cannot help but see the similarity to my own life.  My parents dedicated me to God as a small child.  They both admired God’s servant, John Wesley, and gave me his last name as my second name.  Although I was a skinny wimp, I belonged to God from childhood.  I was no super-saint.  God knows that better than anyone else.  But I knew that I belonged to Him.  Time and again I came running to Him with a repentant heart.  Samson stepped over the line and lost it all.  Oh!  What pathos!  What tragedy is hidden in this text.  “He awoke... but did not know that the Lord had departed from him.”

P.  Dear Lord God, I know very well that my victories are not really mine at all.  They are Yours.  This afternoon I am scheduled to go out into a busy park area alongside the beautiful river here in Viedma to speak to the public.  You have given me another wonderful opportunity to reach out to the lost with Your divine love.  I don’t have the ability in myself to make anything good happen.  I, like Sampson, must never forget that my strength and my successes are not mine.  Without You... without Your Holy Spirit anointing, I can do NOTHING.  Come rescue me, Lord, as You have many times before.  My secret strength, unlike Sampson, is no secret at all.  May the world know that You... and only You are to be honored with every victory!  Amen.

Ralph