How long has it been since you've read the story of Samson? You remember, long hair – super strong. Haircut- instant wimp. That Samson. With my Sunday school boys, it's a fresh challenge each week to grab their attention and give them a new angle on stories they've heard since preschool. Samson got their attention. He got mine, too. You can read his story in Judges 13-16.
In the most familiar part of his story, Delilah whines until he tells her the source of his supernatural strength. He says, "No razor has ever come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man."
Did you catch that? My boys did. His answer was wrong. And that was his problem. Samson's hair didn't make him strong. God did.
It's very subtle, but Samson put more stock in the vow, and the sign of the vow, than the God the vow supposedly honored.
Here's where things get tricky. And personal.
- Have I, do I, put more faith in the act of prayer than the God who hears?
- Have I, do I, get more comfort from the words of Scripture than the God who speaks them?
- Have I, do I, find more contentment in my position as a child of God than from the Father who put me there?
Maybe I'm picking nits (or splitting hairs, even) but I think it's all too easy to put our confidence in all the things ABOUT God and miss true sustaining intimacy with Him.