Strength and Weakness

On Tuesday night, I preached at one of the summer sessions of our campus ministry here at WVU. My sermon, based on Judges 13-16, gave an overview of Samson's life, which we will be studying throughout the summer. One of the lessons I attempted to draw from Samson's life was a right understanding of strength and weakness. God has been teaching me about this for some time now, and Samson provides a unique way of looking at these biblical concepts.

The first thing that comes into most of our minds when we think of Samson is how outrageously strong he was. He killed a lion with his bare hands, carried a city's gates for miles and killed 1,000 men with the jawbone of a donkey, among other things. This is arguably the strongest man ever heard of. Hercules, but real. A man that would put today's weightlifters to shame. Now, what might God want to show us from a man like this?

1. Strength is from God: ...and God alone. Not only is the Spirit of God said to come upon Samson for three of his ten feats of strength (Judges 14:6, 19; 15:14), but, lest we believe like Delilah and apparently Samson that his strength came about from his long hair (Judges 16:17-18), we are reminded at the end of his life that God strengthens whom he chooses (Judges 16:28-30).

2. There are different kinds of strengths: ...and they are not all equal. Samson's story is a tragic one. Judges 13 seems to set up the coming of Samson to be a monumental change for Israel and, to someone unfamiliar with the story, might seem to indicate that this is going to be a mighty man of God. And while he certainly was mighty, throughout the next three chapters we see Samson lusting, lying, demanding his way and breaking every one of his Nazirite vows. It seems to me that God uses this strong man to highlight for us the type of weaknesses we should not have. We should not be weak in our resolve to pursue the Lord and obey His commands. This is not mere "weakness," but sin, and this is much more dangerous than any physical, mental or other handicap.

3. God uses us in our weakness: A final lesson is that God uses people in and through their weaknesses. Paul tells the Corinthians that not many of them were wise or powerful or of noble birth; that they didn't have strengths and advantages in the world. But God chose to use their foolishness, weakness and lowliness to shame the wise, strong and high in this world (1 Corinthians 1:26-29). This is because the Lord cares about His own glory above all else. He is not impressed with our strength or intelligence or great skills. He looks to the lowly and the poor in spirit and perfects His power in their many weaknesses (Isaiah 66:2; Matthew 5:3; 2 Corinthians 12:9). As the saying goes, He uses us crooked sticks to draw straight lines. As with Samson, it was in His greatest moment of weakness that God used Him the most (Judges 16:30).