Choices
Judges 16
Samson was an incredible example to us about choices. He made many wrong choices and he is remembered by the bad ones. He had a great beginning with godly parents and an angel of the Lord announced his birth. He had a unique call from God to be a judge (Judges 16:1). He was “blessed” by God (13:24). He fought the enemy of God’s people with an anointing from God, and yet he was weak as a kitten when it came to women. In Judges 16:20 the Bible says, “He did not know that the Lord had left him”. Wow, what a verse! Samson wanted the power of God for service but not necessarily for his character. It was like preaching great sermons with thousands coming to salvation while sleeping with a prostitute at night. Did he think that it didn’t matter? What was he thinking, or was he thinking at all? God is just as concerned with our character as He is our service.
You will be remembered by the choices that you make. Think about what you are doing, who your friends are, where you go, what you look at on the internet. Is it in line with the Bible? The All Knowing, All Seeing God who has called us is watching. What we know about Him is that He judges sin and will expose us because He loves us and desires us to be Holy. Are you running on empty? If so then you will never know when the power of God has left. As I look back over my almost 40 years of ministry, I see many choices that I made seemed logical at the time but definitely were not the best for the long haul.
Some of my choices in the area of relationships were poor and based on my wisdom and not God’s. Be careful about ungodly relationships and choose your friends carefully. It can come back to haunt you, I promise. People come and go in our life, which is a fact of life. Some people come into our lives who are very influential and have a positive impact on us emotionally, financially and especially spiritually. Our responsibility is to have the discernment to quickly evaluate their positive or negative influence on us. Some instantly impress us with the things that that say and we open up to them and allow them to waltz around inside of our heart. In years past if someone claimed to love Jesus and believed the Bible I thought they were sincere and desired the same things that I did. Years and a long string of disappointments have taught me that you cannot let just anyone with appealing terminology into your heart: they must earn that trust. When I look back, my quest for ministry and personal success blinded me from slowing down and taking more time for important decisions. When you change jobs, churches, and locations it has a long range of effects on you, your future and your entire family. It is much bigger that it appears. When I graduated from seminary I felt desperate to begin my ministry, regardless of the situation. Then when that job was frustrating and unproductive I was so motivated to leave that I jumped from the frying pan into the fire in many ways. The relationships that I made in those two churches had incredible ramifications in my family’s life for the next 20 years. I have replayed the tape many times and played the “what if” game. That game takes you nowhere, but what you learn from it will teach you a great deal to prevent you or someone else from making similar mistakes. As you look back, what person or group of people have deceived you the most? What have your learned? Sampson was a loner and had no one in his life to help him with his choices. Decide to listen to a good godly friend’s advice. Spend time seeking the Lord as you evaluate every person in your inner circle. Guard your heart, because the Devil seeks to ruin your life(1Peter 5:8). Personally, I have learned that I can trust my wife, Deborah, to help govern my decisions and insight as no one else.
Do you sense that that Lord has left you? Now we know that He never does according to Mathew 18:20, but I do believe that we can get to a point that the power of God is unavailable because of known sin. Proverbs 25:28 reminds us by comparing a city with broken down walls to a man with no self control. Psalm 25:4-5, “Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior and my hope is in you all day long.” As you begin 2009 resolve to seek to know God through his Word and by spending time with him in solitude so that you can discern his character and purposes. These disciplines will mold your character and enable you to make the right choices.
