October 6, 2019

THE LORD HAD DEPARTED

Judges 16:20

And Delilah said, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” So he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as before, and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him.

Personal Challenge

We are so blessed to live in the new covenant where Jesus has promised to never leave us or forsake us. However, it is still possible for us to harden our hearts toward Him to a point where we no longer see or feel His presence in our lives. The story of Samson shows us the process that we can go through to get to this point where it looks like God has departed from us. Sampson was set apart for God. He had lived a life where he was extremely blessed by God and did great and wonderful things for Him. But then he started acting as if he had done these things on his own and began to leave God out of the equation. That was the first step. Then he fell in love with Delilah, a woman that was an enemy of God. We do this by falling in love with things of the world that are contrary to God. It could be a person. It could be stuff. It could be a cause. But if it is not of God, it is against Him. Finally, he gave his heart, his allegiance to Delilah and turned his heart away from his first love, God. When he did this, and when we do this, God is no longer there with us or better stated, we are no longer there with Him. That is when disaster ensues. The answer to this is to constantly be running back to God and seeking His presence in our lives. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!