14 Sep Sharing our testimony

By: Ps. Terry Appel

Judges 13:1-25.

Samson was born from a barren woman and her husband named Manoah. Before Samson born, an angel of the Lord came to Manoah wife declaring that she would have a son and named him Samson. Samson’s head never to be touched by a razor because the boy is to be a Nazirite dedicated to God from the womb. He will take the lead in deliveringIsraelfrom the hands of Philistines.

Samson is a guy that knows God has a specific plan for him. Yet he still made an unwise decision in his lives. Knowing that Samson would be a great man, we tend to expect too much of his character that he wouldn’t make any unwise decision. We tend to think Samson to be a well respect and honourable man. In some cases, many of us were told to be a great man of God by someone we know. However, we know that we were not as good as what people sees us.

We tend to make an unwise decision in our lives and might have a bad temper. Being a Christian wasn’t as easy as it seem. ‘Doing what is good means less problem’ is not an accurate statement. We even experienced problem when doing the right things sometimes. We lived in the world that is complicated by sin. Sometimes in our lives we have to rely upon the Holy Spirit to make decisions in life. We shall not allow laws and regulations to prohibit us to do something. We have the Holy Spirit who directs our paths. In this life, we need Holy Spirit guidance to remove us from our addiction. Doing the right thing isn’t as easy as thinking of doing the right thing. Holy Spirit leads and changes us to have characters to fulfil God’s purpose for us.

What’s in the past will not prevent us to fulfil the purpose God gave to us. There is a similarity between Samson’s story and Jesus. Jesus had a purpose to deliver the world from sin while Samson’s purpose is to deliver Israel from the Philistine. Even though Samson made a wrong decision in his life by choosing the wrong girl as his wife, God still loves him. God shows his love for us in John 3:16 ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life’. God the father sees us from the above and knows exactly what we are like. Still he sent his one and only Son to die for us and appoint us as His bride.

In Romans 5:7 says ‘‘For one will scarcely die for a righteous person – though perhaps for a good reason one would dare even to die’. In other words that verse said, to die for someone else doesn’t make any sense. Even for a good person, it still doesn’t make sense. God knows that we are sinner and still love and die for us.

We often regard Samson’s story as destiny missed, rather than a story of divine destiny. Destiny is not what we will be or supposed to be in a specific time. Destiny is the moment where we find our place with the one we loved. Samson still experiences God’s faithfulness even though his hair was cut off. His strength return as his hair grows. In Isaiah 55:11 it said ‘so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it’. God is God, and his appointed purpose will not fail.

These incidents and verse teaches us that our purpose wouldn’t vanish by any occurrence. In the time of Samson’s death, he killed more Philistine than what he did while he was alive. Even though God is rich in mercy and grace, there always a consequence for sins. Which in Samson’s story, his eyes got gouged by Philistine.

Samson’s story is showing us a testimony of the faithfulness of God. Even though he failed in his covenant with God that Samson’s hair shouldn’t be cut, God shows mercy by letting it grow and renew his strength. Every one of us had a testimony that comes from our journey with God. If we experienced His goodness in our lives, we would be so willing to tell our story to others, and by it God is glorified.