Messy Middles

"Then Samson prayed to the LORD, 'Sovereign LORD, remember me again. O God, please strengthen me just one more time..." Judges 16:28a

I watched a funeral service about a month ago. The niece of the deceased was sharing about her uncle. She described his life this way: "My uncle's story reminds me very much of Samson's story, in that it starts strong, and it ends strong, but it was the middle part that got kinda messy. Fortunately for us, Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith never leaves a story unwritten or a work unfinished. As His word tells us in Philippians, 'He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.'...My uncle Bob's story, so much like Samson, started well and ended well and the middle was only messy because, like Samson, he had determined to trust in his own strength. But the difference between a story of tragedy and a story of victory is the ending. My uncle's story is a story of victory and what a comfort it is to know that this very day he is breathing in the very perfection he longed for all his life, the peace of Christ's flawlessly finished work. Thanks be to God, for He is good."

Messy middles. We maybe all can relate in some form or fashion. Yes, Samson's story starts well, and ends well, but the middle is messy indeed. There is no doubt that Samson was chosen by God and used greatly by Him, but his life was filled with sinful choices. Even though deceived by sin, he wasn't disqualified from usefulness, and despite the wrong decisions he made, God used Samson.

In Judges 16 we see a man who failed to guard his heart. Falling in love with a prostitute, the strongest man in the world grows weak under the influence of a woman. As Delilah lures him, eventually lulling him to sleep with his head on her lap, a man comes in to shave off his hair, the symbol of his strength. Satan no doubt had a hand in the sound slumber. In reality, it wasn't Samson's hair that made him strong, but it represented the vow he had made and God's favour on him.

What follows is a sad result of Samson's sin. Following this entrapment with Delilah, the Philistines gouge out his eyes, the very eyes that led him astray, ensuring he will never see another woman again. In her book, "Fractured Faith, Finding Your Way Back to God in an Age of Deconstruction", author Lina Abujamra shares this memorable thought: "Samson's only visual memories were his mistakes and his regrets...It was only when Samson lost his eyes that he finally got his vision back."

Lina continues: "Somewhere in the pit he came to find out that even in our darkest spaces, God's presence is still right there. On that day Samson's only hope was that the same God who had called him and loved him in his youth still loved him in his brokenness. So he hedged his bets on God and he prayed...Samson's life shows us that it's not the strength of our repentance that earns us our forgiveness but the goodness of our God. Samson never lived a day past his repentance, yet his name made it into the list of men who lived by faith in Hebrews 11."

Although Samson's hair grew back and God strengthened him for one final act of victory, his life ends tragically, such great potential wasted. Regardless of his messy middle, God never abandoned him and Samson did indeed die being used by God to conquer the Philistines. Scripture tells us that "he killed more people when he died than he had during his entire lifetime." (Judges 16:30)

It's true, our lives can have messy middles. There is never a time to think we are able to handle life in our strength. For Samson, prayer was the turning point, and it can be our returning as well. Praise the Lord, for Samson and "uncle Bob" the middle wasn't the end. There was more to their stories. Our lives can end victoriously too!

Memories of "Uncle Bob" shared by Jennifer Hayes.

Quote: "Fractured Faith, Finding Your Way Back to God in an Age of Deconstruction" by Lina Abujamra, Page 66, Moody Publishers, Copyright 2021