How Samson Gave The Enemy A Foothold
“I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming and he has no hold on me” (John 14:30), “and do not give the devil a foothold” (Ephesians 4: 27).
These are the
words of our Lord Jesus Christ when He spoke to his disciples in John chapter 14 when the Lord was giving comfort to them and making them aware of his soon
departure to be with the father in heaven.
In reference to
the above scripture, we are reminded to look at the story of Samson and Delilah
in the book of Judges 16, which is a well-known biblical story to many. Samson was an anointed man as he had the
spirit of God upon him and had unique strength that he could take down as many enemies
as the Lord willed for his purpose at once on various occasions (1 Corinthians 15: 58).
Losing Focus And Slipping
While he
continued moving in his service to the Lord, he met a woman in Gaza and fell in
love with her. At this point, we noticed that his service and devotion to the
Lord were affected and there was a shift and he wanted to serve the Lord and the
world at the same time (Matthew 6:24).
As we all know, in our walk with the Lord, especially when we are joyful
to hear about the messages of His Second Coming for His Church and the
excitement and anticipation for the day of the Lord; or when we experience the
moments and seasons in our walk where everything is going well and we full of confidence
and hope; or we have faith and know that we are eager to live in obedience to
the word.
These are times when
the joy of his salvation overflows as it was with Samson when he was taking
down all men who came against him with the strength the Lord gave him.
Meanwhile, the enemy was devising a way to have a hold over him so Satan could
weaken him as Samson was full of the Spirit of God.
Furthermore, as
we have learned from the story of Job Satan initially could not attack Job
because there was a hedge of protection surrounding him and his household as
well as his possessions (Job 1:10). From
experience, we know that the road to Heaven has countless challenges and the
challenges allows for our faith and obedience to be tested (Deuteronomy 8:2). As is common in human behavior, there comes a
time of weakness, and in the case of Samson, when he met the woman and that
distracted him and as a result, little did he know that everything was about to
change in his life.
In some instances,
it happens that there are doors that we tend to open in our lives that come with
spiritual consequences in our walk with the Lord. Those open doors serve to
distract us and move us away from the will of the Lord, and the enemy is using
such to have a spiritual stronghold hold on us, which the Lord Jesus warned us against (John 14:30).
As it is, things
like us falling in love with the world and its carnal things, such situations
as Samson found himself involved in when he fell in love with a woman whom the
enemy used to gain leverage and that opened the door for the enemy to have a
hold on him (Galatians 5:13). When we allow the world to have a hold on us or
where we can’t let go of the things that are contrary to the Will of God in our
service to him, we enable and empower the enemy to have a hold on us (Mark 8:36). When Samson opened the
door for the enemy to have a hold over him by telling his secret about the source
of his strength, it allowed and enabled the enemy to strip everything the Lord
had blessed him with. Not only did he lose strength, but his vision was
impaired as a result of his losing his eyes (Judges 16-21, Romans 6:13).
Similarly, this
is the intention of the enemy not only to make us cease serving the Lord or walking
in obedience but to rob us of the vision of the church. Where will the body of
Christ be heading when we lose the vision of soul-winning and obedience to the
Lord if we pursue worldly things? Scripture reminds us that we need to fix our
eyes on the heavenly things above (Colossians
3: 1-2).
Seeking The Lord's Favor
Therefore, the
vision we may have lost could be our love for the Lord and for one another, our
passion and devotion for spending time with the Lord in prayer and the studying
of the word with zeal and not as a routine. In addition, our love for
witnessing and being a living testimony draws people to Christ (Matthew 6:33).
Moreover, when
the enemy succeeded in subduing Samson and stripped him of everything he held
dearly in his service to the Lord, he came to the realization that the door he
has opened had cost him in humility he looked to the Lord as his pillar (Judges 16: 26). He repented and prayed for
restoration not only to regain his strength and gift but to give himself as a
living sacrifice and to allow for the glory of God to shine through and by that
he took out more Philistines than his time when he was alive and before he lost
his position of power (Judges 16: 28-30).
It is noteworthy, that no matter how great our walk with God is, He brings us down
in humility to show us our dependence on Him (Proverbs 3:5-6).
In conclusion, we
see that the Lord Jesus is teaching us that the way to overcome the ruler of
this world is to ensure that we have nothing in common with Satan and that he
should have no hold on us. (Romans 12:21). It is possible with the
Holy Spirit to overcome our weaknesses and the devil’s schemes and the Lord is
always willing and He is there to help us through (John 16:33). People have different things that they go through
that may serve as weaknesses to the enemy to take advantage of, David stated
something that when he kept silent about his sin and weaknesses his bones
wasted away and the pressure never let up until he spoke up and let it all out
about his failures to the Lord. (Psalm
32: 2-5).
Repentance Brings Restoration
Now, in the end, Samson returned to his position by repenting and praying to the Lord for
restoration. The Lord answered his prayer as the motive of Samson’s heart was
in the right place and sought not only to regain strength but to complete the
mission to take out the enemies of the Lord as he was called for (Judges 16: 22; 30). Therefore, it is
imperative that we acknowledge our weaknesses, fears, transgressions, and sin
can afford us freedom from oppression, torment, and inflictions or
calamity, this is not limited to confession but to a completely repented heart
that seeks his love and perfect Will (Colossians
3:5-10 & Romans 12:2).
Blessed Peace
Sister Thandazo (reviewed by Brother Glenn)
