Fearless: Samson Judges 13-16

Fearless: Samson
Judges 13-16
Samson was altogether a pretty rebellious person. We have started to see some rebellion in our 5 year old daughter Ana.  We have started to count to three.  If you are a parent you have done the same thing.  Just the other day I was asking Ana to come to me she got the idea that I don't want to come to you Daddy.  So I proceeded to count to three.  I said "1...2..." and when I got to three she plopped herself down on the ground and cried out "3" in defiance!  I almost had to laugh, but it was pretty serious rebellion nonetheless. Samson seemed to do the same thing by rebelling against what the Lord had asked him to do, but to his credit he turned to the Lord when it counted.  Samson grew in fearlessness by overcoming three areas of weakness where he learned to lean on the strength of Jesus Christ

Weakness Area #1 Women
First wife was a philistine which was prohibited by God.  He visited  prostitutes, and the worst wife in the bible (maybe besides Job's wife and Jezebel) was Delilah. How could this guy be such a dummy when it came to women? I am a one woman man I don't even look at other women. I have never even had friends who are women that are not also the friends of my wife Simone.  This is the only way to go.  I just make sure that there is no other way.  Not even the opportunity or possibility to be tempted in this area.  This is how I lean on the strength of Christ.  I make my wife my main accountability.   
Judges 14:3-4
Then his father and his mother said to him, "Is there no woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?" But Samson said to his father, "Get her for me, for she looks good to me." However, his father and mother did not know that it was of the Lord, for He was seeking an occasion against the Philistines. Now at that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel.
God was at work even in Samson's terrible weakness to do His righteous plan. Even though Samson may have never recognized it.

Weakness Area#2 Discretion:
Discretion is the the trait of judging wisely and objectively: this guy had hardly any discretion. He hung out constantly with the enemy. There was a wedding feast where he told them a riddle and told his wife the answer to it. After they figured out the answer to the riddle, by asking his wife, he got so angry that he burned their crops down with three hundred foxes. His biggest failure in discretion was that gave up the secret to his strength after being asked three times.  You would think on the second time being asked he would get the picture that they want to capture him, but no he tells them anyway.  
Judges 14:4
However, his father and mother did not know that it was of the Lord, for He was seeking an occasion against the Philistines. Now at that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel.
Judges 15:3
Samson then said to them, "This time I shall be blameless in regard to the Philistines when I do them harm."
He was growing in discretion here. He basically says I'm gonna kick major butt and I'm gonna do it with discretion and blamelessness! I'm gonna take care of business this time!

Weakness Area #3 Loss of physical strength
after he killed 1,000 Philistines Judges 15:18 Then he became very thirsty, and he called to the Lord and said, "You have given this great deliverance by the hand of Your servant, and now shall I die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?"  God Delivered him and gave him something to drink.  After he was blinded and captured Judges 16:28 Then Samson called to the Lord and said, "O Lord God, please remember me and please strengthen me just this time, O God, that I may at once be avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes."
In his greatest weaknesses he called on God.  My area of weakness now is patience with my family.  It is becoming so hard to have patience with a two year old and a five year old getting into so much mischief.  Last week my youngest daughter decided to bring the sandbox into our house bucket by bucket and pour each bucket into our easy chairs and onto our carpet.  It is hard to be patient, but I am asking God to turn this area of weakness into an opportunity for an "occasion against the Philistines", or better put an "occasion against my flesh", What is one area of weakness in your life right now? And how can you lean on the power of Jesus in that weakness?