Second Chances

(Judges 13-16)

Most Christians know the story of Samson. We might have seen the movie with Hedy Lamarr and Victor Mature, directed by Cecile B. DeMille. My first memory of Samson comes from my parents old family Bible. It contained an artist's rendering of Samson at the mill. I spent hours looking at the picture of Samson, eyes plucked out, straining against the weight of the mill, while a soldier with a whip stands ready to strike. It made an impression on a young boy. I remember looking at his muscles and wondering how the chains were holding him. That is my memory, I would love to hear yours.
The story goes something like this. (many details omitted) Samson was gifted by God with physical strength. He used that strength against the Philistines, who were ruling over Israel. Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah. The Philistines plotted with Delilah to find out the secret of his strength so that he could be captured. He tricked her several times before he was honest with her about his strength. She was persistent and eventually he told her that the secret of his strength was in keeping the vow his parents had made. No razor had touched his hair. So while he slept, Delilah called for the barber and his hair was cut and his strength left him. "Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding in the prison. But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved." (Judges 16: 21,22)
A very sad story! A once proud, strong God fearing man reduced to a mule at the mill. His vision taken from him, he was left in darkness to consider his life's choices. But God had not forgotten Samson. As he toiled,something began to happen. As the days passed, his hair grew back and with it his strength returned. Second chances! His pride had led him to the wrong woman and left him drained of his strength. He made choices that put him in shackles and took away his vision. But God had not forgotten Samson. Second chances!
We all know how the story ends, Samson regains his strength and God uses him to crush the Philistines. God wasn't finished with Samson, he had lessons to learn, strength to regain and pride to lose. Then he was ready to be used by God. He had to lose his own sight to gain God's vision. He had to become weak to rely on God's strength. He had to have his pride crushed to allow God to take the lead in his life.
Samson offers us many lessons, if we will listen. Whatever holds us in shackles, God is able to break the chains. Whenever we are spiritually blind, God can give us a new vision. When our choices give us a bad haircut, our hair will grow back out, eventually. It might take some time and we will have to live with the results, but God isn't finished with us yet. Samson still speaks through the ages, if we will sit at his feet. We need not make the same mistakes that he made. But when we do, he tells us that God is a God of "second chances". May you determine today to allow God to take the lead in your life. He removes the shackles of pain and addiction, He restores our vision to see the world through His eyes, He gets rid of the daily grind and replaces it with a life of purpose and He gives us the strength we need to crush our spiritual adversary. He is the God of "second chances"!