Samson Went Back to Bed, Not Much Hair Left On His Head

I think it's funny that in the
summer time we write about winter
and in the winter, spring is only a dream.
Though sunlight surges around us
we long for the taste of snow,
the wind on our cheeks.

I've been thinking a lot about the story of Samson and Delilah. I don't know why it intrigues me in the way it does, but I just can't get it out of my mind. Samson made a promise to God that he would never cut his hair. In return, God made Samson strong and powerful. He sent Samson as a Judge to the Israelites to free them from slavery...and Samson didn't exactly follow God's call to a T. He did liberate the people, defeated their offenders, but married outside of his people. Delilah was her name. She cut off Samson's hair in the night, after finding out his secret. He was then captured, weak and without the gift God had given him. This is a man who split a lion in two with his bare hands. This was a man who killed hundreds of men with a "fresh" jaw of a donkey. Suddenly he was weak and vulnerable. He was made to work in a mill for several years, pushing the grinder like an animal.

But the part that facinates me....is that his hair grew back. His hair grew back and his covenent with God grew back and God saw him in favor once more.

A God can be so forgiving?

Unfathomable.

And, this time...I don't say that from a glorifying standpoint. I don't say it as a proclimation to make my reader feel that I have the faith I don't. I say it from the standpoint of a broken, lonely individual. This year has left us battered and bruised. I feel blind to the ways of God. But as sure as the sun rose that day, when Samson pulled the pillars of the pagan temple down with only the arms he was given, God was with him.

God, are you with me?

I sure hope so. I don't think I can do this alone.