Samson: God in the Midst of Chaos
Pastor Rollan Fisher
Focus: God can be found, his care felt and his will done, even in the midst of the chaos of our lives.
Cycles
Victories in the Midst of Chaos
God Still Cares
Cycles
All decisions have consequences, even if made impetuously.
Judges 15:1-8 ESV
“After some days, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson went to visit his wife with a young goat. And he said, “I will go in to my wife in the chamber.” But her father would not allow him to go in. And her father said, “I really thought that you utterly hated her, so I gave her to your companion. Is not her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please take her instead.” And Samson said to them, “This time I shall be innocent in regard to the Philistines, when I do them harm.” So Samson went and caught 300 foxes and took torches. And he turned them tail to tail and put a torch between each pair of tails. And when he had set fire to the torches, he let the foxes go into the standing grain of the Philistines and set fire to the stacked grain and the standing grain, as well as the olive orchards. Then the Philistines said, “Who has done this?” And they said, “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife and given her to his companion.” And the Philistines came up and burned her and her father with fire. And Samson said to them, “If this is what you do, I swear I will be avenged on you, and after that I will quit.” And he struck them hip and thigh with a great blow, and he went down and stayed in the cleft of the rock of Etam.”
The cycle of the 2024 summer Olympics in Paris this year reminds us that life is meant to be a marathon with God, not just a sprint.
There is a lot of life and unspoken detail in the pages of Scripture that speak to the apex moments we have highlighted from which we can learn lessons from the men and women of who encountered God.
Life can feel like a marathon that is long and grueling, but understand that it is the sum total of decisions made daily that God wants to use as a testimony to his love, gospel and glory.
Your life is a testimony (of God’s faithfulness) to be built.
The impetuous results of our decision making always come with consequences.
Here, Samson ends up working vengeance against the Philistines because his Philistine wife was given to his companion, his best man at his wedding, when there were perceived marital issues between Samson and his wife (Judges 14:20).
This begins a cycle of retaliation, where the Philistines burn his wife and father-in-law to death because of Samson burning their stacked grain, standing grain and olive orchards of the Philistines with the 300 foxes.
Marriage is a beautiful thing instituted by God and people are blessed when they enter into such a covenant.
Proverbs 18:22
“He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord.”
However, we need to kill the idolatry that surrounds romantic relationships in our culture where people derive their value, significance, sense of accomplishment and acceptance from such relationships.
Covenant relationships within the body of Christ are amazingly valuable and are not a consolation prize for those who didn’t find a spouse.
II Samuel 1:25-27 ESV
“"How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle! "Jonathan lies slain on your high places. I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; very pleasant have you been to me; your love to me was extraordinary, surpassing the love of women. "How the mighty have fallen, and the weapons of war perished!"”
You can live a happy, fulfilled and life of great Kingdom significance without ever getting married.
We know this by looking at the life of our Lord and Savior - Jesus.
Paul said, those who marry will have trouble in the world and he wanted to spare people this (I Corinthians 7).
Matthew 19:7-9 ESV
“They said to him, "Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?" He said to them, "Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery."”
After Jesus said you can not divorce a person except for marital unfaithfulness (adultery) Peter said it was better then not to marry, to which Jesus replied:
Matthew 19:10-12
“The disciples said to him, "If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry." But he said to them, "Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it."”
You can live your entire life as an unmarried single and fulfill the will of God for your life.
You can die an early death and in it have completely glorified God and fulfilled his will.
How do I know these things?
It is because they are the very things that Jesus did.
The more that we reject these truths, the more chaotic things become in our souls and the world we create with impulsive decisions and the problematic cycles that follow.
“The more people marginalize the true God of the Bible, the more chaotic things become.”
-Dr. Tony Evans
What cycles does Jesus want to break in your life to bring you into his gospel good?
Victories in the Midst of Chaos
God can move even in the midst of the chaos of our lives.
Judges 15:9-17 ESV
“Then the Philistines came up and encamped in Judah and made a raid on Lehi. And the men of Judah said, “Why have you come up against us?” They said, “We have come up to bind Samson, to do to him as he did to us.” Then 3,000 men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, “Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?” And he said to them, “As they did to me, so have I done to them.” And they said to him, “We have come down to bind you, that we may give you into the hands of the Philistines.” And Samson said to them, “Swear to me that you will not attack me yourselves.” They said to him, “No; we will only bind you and give you into their hands. We will surely not kill you.” So they bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock. When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him. Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and the ropes that were on his arms became as flax that has caught fire, and his bonds melted off his hands. And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and put out his hand and took it, and with it he struck 1,000 men. And Samson said, “With the jawbone of a donkey, heaps upon heaps, with the jawbone of a donkey have I struck down a thousand men.” As soon as he had finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone out of his hand. And that place was called Ramath-lehi.”
It may not be your preference, but it could be God’s will - seek Christ in the midst of the chaos.
What is it in your life that you may not have chosen, but God is definitively using for his Kingdom purposes?
“Sometimes God lets you hit rock bottom so that you see that He is the Rock at the bottom.”
-Dr. Tony Evans
God Still Cares
God still cares for his people, even in the midst of mistakes - this is a gospel of grace.
Judges 15:18-20 ESV
“And he was very thirsty, and he called upon the Lord and said, “You have granted this great salvation by the hand of your servant, and shall I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” And God split open the hollow place that is at Lehi, and water came out from it. And when he drank, his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore the name of it was called En-hakkore; it is at Lehi to this day. And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.”
Sometimes we overspirtualize our need while God wants to give us natural remedies to revive us while breaking cycles in our lives.
You are spirit, soul (mind, will and emotions) and body.
I Thessalonians 5:14-24 ESV
“And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.”
God made and cares about every aspect of you.
God gave Samson water out of the hollow place to revive his spirit.
Though very real, not every challenge is spiritual warfare.
For example:
If you are fatigued, you may need to rest and get better sleep.
When you are hungry, you may need to eat.
If you are lethargic, you may need more exercise and a better diet.
If you are stressed, you may need to unplug from devices and get some quiet restoration in nature.
How this will change our daily living:
How often do we treat the people who are closest to us the worst while giving our best efforts and energy to those who wouldn’t think twice about us if push came to shove?
Here’s the point - the gospel has to translate to the way that I treat my spouse, my kids, my parents, my sister, my neighbors, my co-workers, my friends (which is usually easiest for people) and the world at large.
God cares about it all.
If it does not, I am deceiving myself.
Here is the good news as I seek to find God’s care in the midst of the chaos:
Romans 5:6-11 ESV
“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”
Let’s come to Christ at the cross in repentance and faith to break destructive cycles, find him in the midst of the chaos and ultimately rest in his eternal care.
Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher