Nazirite Gone Wild

Samson was now very thirsty, and he cried out to the Lord, “You have accomplished this great victory by the strength of your servant. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of these pagans?” So God caused water to gush out of a hollow in the ground at Lehi, and Samson was revived as he drank. Then he named that place “The Spring of the One Who Cried Out,” and it is still in Lehi to this day. [Judges 15.18-19]

Samson was righteous and holy - unblemished with pride or self-seeking, right? Uh, not so much. If anything, Samson appears to have been a Nazirite gone wild. 

But even with Samson's misgivings, he was being used by God to accomplish victory over the Philistines who had risen to domination over Israel. And, God "caused water to gush our of a hollow in the ground..." on Samson's behalf.

Would God use someone who was unholy and unruly? God uses Satan every day, so, yes. At least Samson was not so much in rebellion against God, he was just very self-centered in his outlook on life.

Where I am going with this is here: I myself struggle with being "good enough" to think God would work on my behalf. Even as a believer in Jesus Christ, I reason that my sinfulness (self-seeking mostly) surely negates any privileges (let alone rights) I would have to the power of God on my behalf.

The irony of this thinking however is that it comes from a liar and a thief! Satan, whose purpose is to accuse me of being unworthy of wielding the power of God is, in fact, wielding the power given to him by God every day as a destroyer and seems to have no problem with it whatsoever! Satan is "in God's will" as far as executing just curses for disobedience, even though he is in utter rebellion in his broken relationship with God. Furthermore, after Jesus' work on earth, Satan has been stripped of his authority but continues to wreak havoc because he can - because the authority has been transferred to us and yet we let him continue to wreak that havoc (because we believe his lies that we are unworthy to resist him!).

I like what Samson named the place where the water gushed out... The Spring of the One Who Cried Out. I suppose had Samson not cried out that he would have gone thirsty.

Father, I purpose today to be the One Who Cries Out!