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All over the world, various disasters break out—earthquakes, tornadoes, famines, and wars, to name just a few. Relief organizations, often on a moment’s notice, rush to relieve people from unexpected disasters. But in Judges chapter 13, we read about a time when God permitted a disaster to come upon people who had deliberately turned away from Him. They had broken the covenant they promised to keep. To induce them to turn back to God, He let their enemies overrun their land and oppress them. In the midst of their oppression, they cried out to God, and He raised up a young man to harass their enemy. Eventually, God gave the people victory, but until then, they lived with the ups and downs of Samson’s flawed leadership. In selecting him, God had told Samson’s parents he should let his hair grow, avoid meat and wine, and never touch anything dead. But as he grew up, he often violated these vows. Still, God used him to punish his nation’s enemies. Today, while we serve the Lord, we too often fall short and might fail Him badly. When we fail morally, we should confess our sin to Him. We should seek to grow from our failure, and we should seek to follow our Lord more closely.
