A Bad Haircut

When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up again, for he has told me all his heart.” Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hands. She made him sleep on her knees. And she called a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him. And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the LORD had left him. (Judges 16:18-20 ESV). It’s been a long time since I have played tennis with any regularity. However, when I was a BSU Director at Tyler Junior College, one of the young men I was trying to reach was on the college team. Needless to say he was much better than I was. The first time I went to play a set against him, I truly thought I might be able to stay in the game and make it somewhat of a challenge. After all, I had played through high school and did have some success. I was badly mistaken. He took the serve first. I bounced on the balls of my feet waiting for the serve and before I knew what happened, it had already come and gone by me for the ace! He won in straight sets while I didn’t score a point! We both had a good laugh and I promised myself to never do that again. We spent a lot of time talking and sharing with one another. After some time, I asked him how he could be beaten. He said, “Really my only weakness is to lob the ball to the far court and my backhand.” I was never able to do that consistently, but when I did, I was able to get to the net and score a few points. Have you noticed that is what the devil does with us. He looks for our weaknesses, and when he finds them, where do you think he starts lobbing the temptations? This was Samson's problem. Because he was such a formidable adversary, he thought no one could ever take him down. So his enemies were clever and found Samson's vulnerability. Every time Delilah asked him the question of the source of his strength, she got a little closer to the truth until one day. Finally, he told her the secret of his strength. So what do you think happened? He fell asleep in her lap. Talk about sleeping with the enemy. He took a one-way trip to Delilah's Barber Shop. He woke up with a bad haircut and no strength. He didn’t even know it was gone until he went to fight the Philistines. Funny how pride blinds us to the absence of the Lord in our lives; we become so sure of ourselves, we abandon the only real Source of strength. If that’s where you find yourself today, turn back to him. Like Samson you can be restored!