Asleep on Delilah's Lap

After putting him to sleep on her lap, she called for someone to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him. And his strength left him.

Judges 16:19

When the Philistines realized that they could not defeat Samson by military force, they tried a different tact. Instead of attacking Samson head on, they seduced him. He had fallen in love with a Philistine woman from the Valley of Sorek named Delilah. So, the Philistine lords offered her a great sum of money to find out the secret of Samson's strength so they could overpower him. 

It turned out that Samson was strong but not wise. The man who was impervious to soldiers and to lions was only too foolish and vulnerable before this beautiful woman. In the end, Samson told his worst enemy exactly how to defeat him, then laid his head on her lap and fell asleep. All along the Philistines had been hiding in the shadows, plotting against Samson and waiting for their moment to strike. It was only once that great lion of a man had been turned into a lapdog by Delilah that they came out of the shadows and attacked him directly. 

It seems to me that the church in America is very much like Samson sleeping on Delilah's lap. We have not been subject to overt attacks and persecution like many of our brothers and sisters around the world, but our enemy has been hard at work trying to seduce us. Everyday you are bombarded with an intentional, strategic campaign to deceive and seduce you away from God and toward worldliness. It's in the TV shows and movies you watch, the music you listen to, the news sites you follow on the internet, and the social media posts and marketing campaigns you drink in everywhere we go. You are surrounded by temptation to sin and by crafty lies designed to make you doubt truth and reject God and His way. 

Yes, I fear that we have fallen asleep on Delilah's lap, and that at any moment our enemy could step out of the shadows and attack. So, I say to you what I would say to Samson. Wake up! And save yourself before it is too late! Open your eyes to the lies and temptation and seduction all around you. Get your head off of Delilah's lap, and arm yourself for the enemy is upon you and attack is imminent. 

Imperfect but available

The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him. The ropes on his arms became like charred flax, and the bindings dropped from his hands. Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men.

Judges 15:14b-15

Samson wasn't particularly righteous. He was sexually immoral, flippant towards God's law, fairly deceitful, and foolish in his dealings with women. No, Samson wasn't righteous, but he was available. He was ticked off at the same people God was ticked off at, and he was willing to fight. When his greatest military victory came he had been bound with ropes by his own people and handed over to the Philistines. He had no weapons at his disposal and was surrounded by his enemies. But when God's Spirit rushed on him Samson was given supernatural strength. He broke free of his bonds as though they were nothing and looked around for any weapon he could lay a hand on. What he found was the jawbone of a donkey and with it he killed one thousand men.

One of the many lessons we learn from Samson's life is that God can do impossible things through imperfect people. This is what God has done all throughout human history. He used Martin Luther to stand alone against a Catholic Church that had become so corrupt that it actually sold salvation. He used William Tyndale to translate the Bible into English from the original Greek and Hebrew texts even as the Catholic Church in his country said common Christians didn't need to read the Bible and persecuted and hunted him. And were it not for God's work in William Carey's life the modern missions movement might have never started and millions of souls might be lost to Hell. In his lifetime, Carey was a lone voice arguing that Christians still have a responsibility to take the good news of Jesus to the nations. God used him to start a movement. 

None of these men were perfect, but they were all aligned with God's will for their lives. Each of them stepped out in faith and acted. If you and I will do the same, then God will accomplish all He pleases through us. Who knows what the great author has written for you in His book? Will you preach the gospel, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, fight for the oppressed, start a movement, or raise up the next generation of Christians? Only God knows and only you can find out, if you'll step out in faith and see.