"As Before": When We Presume on God's Rescue

Here's the verse that should scare every gifted person who grew up in a godly home:

And she said, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" So he awoke from his sleep, and said, "I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!" But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him. (Judges 16:20)

He thought he'd get the same results as every other time. Whatever he got himself into, he could just shake it off. He didn't even realize God was saying, "I'm done."

A history of rescue

Samson was rescued again and again. When his father-in-law gave his wife to a companion, Samson caught 300 foxes, tied torches between pairs of them, and burned down the Philistines' fields, vineyards, and olive groves. He was smart enough to outfox 300 foxes. He carried the gates of Gaza up a hill. He grabbed a fresh jawbone of a donkey (not an old one, the Bible points out) and killed a thousand Philistines in one fight. Then, dying of thirst, he said, "Now I'm going to die of thirst?" God broke open a rock, and fresh water flowed out.

He got himself into trouble, and God got him out, so many times that he began to presume on God's rescue.

I probably have no idea how much trouble I've gotten myself into by presuming on God. I make a foolish decision without asking His direction. God'll handle it. God'll forgive me. Nobody has to find out. Love covers a multitude of sins. And I'll start quoting Scripture to justify it.

Rescue is not approval

Ever come over a hill going 80, and there's a police car sitting there, and it doesn't get you? A Christian atheist says, "Thank You, Lord!" And God says, "Don't thank Me. I had nothing to do with that."

Don't read Samson's victories as a character reference from God. God isn't okay with the rebellion. He was using Samson to free Israel, as a tool and not a servant. Just because God is using you doesn't mean God is pleased with you.

A gift can continue even after the Lord has left. Maybe you grew up in a functional home (praise God if you did, and if you didn't, praise God you're here), and you have better relationships because of it. That's the aftereffect of a blessing, not God's stamp of approval on your behavior. Maybe you can sing like an angel and you're living like the devil.

When the gift becomes a game

Samson's gift became a game. He told riddles to the Philistines. He showed off. He built reckless relationships and finally ended up with Delilah, who was being paid to find out his secret. "Tie me with fresh bowstrings." "Tie me with new ropes." He toyed with her again and again. He saw his gift as prideful, not purposeful.

It's usually not done in one blow. It's done in a joke. We stop taking seriously that we grew up in a godly home and have the Word of God at our fingertips. He crossed the line so many times the line became blurred.

That's religious rotation: play church on Sunday, live how I want Monday through Saturday, take a spiritual bath Saturday night, and put on my church clothes. God's never let me down. But how many times have I let Him down?

You can build a Christian resume. "Back in 1987 God rescued me from this. In 2003, from that. Post-COVID, God really came through." Print it on that thick 24-pound paper with a little texture. But if you've taken all that rescue as a license to sin, the Bible calls it licentiousness. You still know how to pray, preach, and sing. You just don't check with God.

The blindness in this chapter starts long before they put out his eyes. He was blind to his own condition.