It's Never Too Late

You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and his hair must never be cut.  For he will be dedicated to God as a Nazirite from birth.  He will rescue Israel from the Philistines.

Judges 13:5

The Spirit of the Lord gave Samson immense power and strength.  Unfortunately Samson used that gift in selfish ways.  Like many people today, Samson was a selfish man.  He was chosen by God to do amazing things but Samson often disobeyed and did what he wanted.  He was a trouble maker who violated God's laws on many occasions.  For example he married a Philistine woman, ate honey from an unclean carcass and also shared that with his unknowing parents.  He killed many men for selfish reasons, always concerning himself with having revenge on his enemies.  Samson slept with a prostitute and again used His gift of power selfishly to escape punishment.  Samson wasn't your typical nice guy.  He was a bad boy who wanted what he wanted and did almost anything to get his way.  

Samson was mentally weak.  Twice he was tricked into giving away his secrets.  He was easily distracted by sex and sensuality.  He allowed flattery to deceive him and when he fell in love with Delilah she brought an end to his power.  Samson clearly had many gods in his life.......self, sex, and power, to name a few.  He often forgot who his real God was and relied on himself to "fix" his dire circumstances.  He was soon captured by the Philistines and his eyes were gouged out.  They chained him up in jail where he sat grinding grain.  After all of this ugly God still heard Samson's prayers.  God never left Samson and He was ready to assist him when He called out to Him. 

Then Samson prayed to the Lord, "Sovereign Lord, remember me again.  O God, please strengthen me just one more time.  With one blow let me pay back the Philistines for the loss of my two eyes."

Judges 16:28 

And so, in is final moments Samson brought down the temple and he killed more Philistines in his death than he had in his entire lifetime.  God heard Samson and answered His prayer.  God was also able to use bad situations, throughout Samson's life, and turn them into good for His people.  Samson, although not the way one would expect, did, in fact, rescue the Israelites.  God's plans for him did succeed because God is able to use our bad choices and the unfortunate circumstances in our lives and turn them into good.  

Samson was not perfect.  His life was full of sin and disobedience but he never forgot Who to call on when he was in need.  Maybe he was too arrogant to feel guilty for his sins or maybe he just understood God's forgiveness better than we do, either way he wasn't afraid to cry out to God.  He clearly had faith in God's power and he was confident in the unconditional love He provides.  We should all learn from Samson.  Even when we feel we have fallen short in God's eyes or we have too many sins in our past, God is still waiting for us to call on Him.  He is always ready to heal and restore someone no matter how big his or her faults.  My friend, it is NEVER TOO LATE and you are never too old to call out to God for healing and forgiveness.