What’s That Snapping Sound?
What’s That Snapping Sound?
Judges 16:7-9
Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.” Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she bound him with them. … But he snapped the bowstrings, as a thread of flax snaps when it touches the fire. So the secret of his strength was not known.
After twenty plus years of defending Israel from their Philistine overlords, Samson is officially back to his old gambling ways. He’s got the chips on the table again, and an ace up his sleeve, and the best poker face in the land, except that this time he isn’t merely playing for thirty pairs of clothes; oh no, the stakes are much higher now. That little riddle back at his first wedding—that was just child’s play. That was the amateur league. This is life and death now. One thing’s for certain: there’s no peddler in all the world who can match Samson’s ability to milk a secret for all its worth. Yet, what does he actually gain if the gamble pays off? A longer stint with Delilah? More chances to mock his mortal foes every day as he lives right under their noses? The thrill of feeling invincible? But is such meager return worth the risk? Isn’t his life and the protection of his commonwealth worth more than fleeting pleasure? These are the confounding questions to me, friend. What really drives Samson’s gamble? What keeps him bound in Delilah’s clutches? And why is he back to the same old games that got him into all the trouble to begin with?
Some seasoned saints get to this point because they’ve grown bored of the day-to-day ministerial routine, and they miss the thrill of impropriety. Others believe the lie that they can still be a faithful minister in public and a rebel in private. Others are driven by selfish feelings of lost time, like the sort my friend’s mom expressed after divorcing her husband and running off with the next-door neighbor: “I’ve done my job raising you—now it’s my turn to live my own life.”
Friend, don’t play games with God. Today, the bowstrings are snapping. Tomorrow, it could be your marriage and your ministry.