Word For You

 

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Learning the hard way (3)

19 June 2020
‘The boy will be a Nazirite to God from his birth until the day of his death.’

The angel who announced Samson’s birth said he was to ‘be a Nazirite,’ which meant that he was to be dedicated to doing God’s will. But Samson was careless about his spiritual life. He prayed only when he was in trouble. He was impulsive; he did whatever he felt like doing. How often can we be like that too? We can end up refusing to follow God’s plan for our lives because our plan seems better. And we can easily fall into the habit of only praying when we need something. God can become just an afterthought and a convenience to us. We turn to Him in desperation when things get tough, but when everything’s all right we ignore Him. Only when Samson was captured by the Philistines, his eyes gouged out, and he was grinding grain at a mill like an ox, do we read that he turned to God and prayed. He said: ‘Sovereign Lord, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me just once more’ (Judges 16:28 NIV). Why did he wait until everything fell apart before turning to God? Just imagine what Samson could have achieved if he’d turned to God right from the start. God shouldn’t be our last resort. We should be turning to Him with everything, all the time. He’s the One who can bring change to our situations, and He’s the One who loves us more than we can ever know. The psalmist said, ‘Blessed are all who fear the LORD, who walk in obedience to him. You will eat the fruit of your labour; blessings and prosperity will be yours’ (Psalm 128:1-2 NIVUK). We’d save ourselves so many problems and spare ourselves so much pain if we’d take time to invite God into the situation.  

 

What Now?

Set a reminder on your phone to pray every two hours today. Use that time to bring all the situations you’re facing to God. 

 

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