We begin a new series today called "The Character Tour," which focuses on character in the lives of a few biblical characters. Next week we’ll take a look at Joseph and then Daniel. Today, we’re going to talk about Samson.

Character

• “Charisma without character leads to catastrophe.” (Peter Kuzmic)
• “The price of greatness is responsibility.” (Winston Churchill)
• “Character is a by-product; it is produced in the great manufacture of daily duty.” (Woodrow Wilson)

Samson came as a result of an extraordinary birth. The story is told in Judges 13.2-5 …

In those days, a man named Manoah from the tribe of Dan lived in the town of Zorah. His wife was unable to become pregnant, and they had no children. The angel of the LORD appeared to Manoah’s wife and said, "Even though you have been unable to have children, you will soon become pregnant and give birth to a son. You must not drink wine or any other alcoholic drink or eat any forbidden food. 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."

We’re not told much about Samson’s childhood, except …

When her son was born, they named him Samson. And the LORD blessed him as he grew up. And in Mahaneh-dan, which is located between the towns of Zorah and Eshtaol, the Spirit of the LORD began to take hold of him. (Judges 13.24-25)

Read Judges 16

Samson’s Weaknesses

• Samson does not honor God or his vow to God
• Samson is overly self-confident and assumes God’s presence
• Samson relies on his own strength
• Samson appears to be immature
• Samson plays with temptation

In the next couple weeks, we’ll talk more about developing strong, Christlike character. Romans 5.3-5 will shape a lot of that discussion …

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us—they help us learn to endure. And endurance develops strength of character in us, and character strengthens our confident expectation of salvation. 5And this expectation will not disappoint us. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

“What we do on some great occasions will probably depend upon what we
already are, and what we are will be the result of previous years of
self-discipline.” (H.P. Liddon)

While Samson is a tragic story overall, amazingly enough, he is listed among the great men and women of faith, where the writer to the Hebrews says, "Well, how much more do I need to say? It would take too long to
recount the stories of the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah,
David, Samuel, and all the prophets." (Hebrews 11.32)

The good news from Samson’s life is that it’s never too late to come back to God. You may have messed up in the past but you can come back to God! Samson did, and you can, too!

O God, thank you for men and women who model the way of faith for us - people in Scripture, people who have gone before us, and people in these churches! We pray that you will build and develop strong, Christlike character in each of us. And as you work on us, please mold and shape us into your image! Amen.

We live in a day and age when we are not used to waiting. We live in a microwave age; an instant society. You tell me, if you had to choose between a crock pot and a microwave, which would it be?

We are impatient when we have to wait in line at the checkout counter. “Why don’t they open more lanes?” we ask. The other day I was in the turning lane behind several other cars and watched the cycle of lights go round and round with every lane getting to go but mine. That happened at least two times. You sure could tell we don’t live in Pittsburgh or Philadelphia – not a horn sounded. We just sat and waited and waited.

And when we finally got the light I saw that the first vehicle in line was a motorcycle, probably undetected by these “smart” lights we have nowadays.

Yes we like things fast. And yet there are some things that still take time.

~Last time I checked mothers still have to carry a baby for 9 months before giving birth.

~We plant seeds or small plants and we wait … we wait and watch as they grow; we wait and watch as blossoms come on; we wait and watch until finally fruit appears.

~There are still 12 years of schooling required to get a high school diploma – now some really smart people can accelerate the pace, but they still have to do the required work.Most the time we don’t do a good job of waiting before the Lord.

If you wait for something that means you think something’s going to happen: a baby’s going to be born, a traffic light’s going to change, there’s going to be a crop to harvest.

The Psalmist said that he prays every morning and then “I wait for your answer.” (Ps 5.3b). He expected God to answer. Do we expect God to answer our prayer? Or do we just want him to do what we ask? Do we think that he knows what we need?

Too many times we think we know what we need and we just go to God with the list … here it is God. This is what I need. Now give it to me. And up and off we go. Oh, we may not really say, “Now give it to me.” But we don’t wait to see if God agrees with us. We don’t wait to hear from God whether what we think we need is really what we need. Heaven forbid if God would disagree with our prayer! Oh, that would imply that we really mean what we pray when we say, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

And now with the confidence of children (children who trust; children who depend; children who sometimes don’t know what is best for them) as children of God, let us pray,

Our Father, who art in heaven,Hallowed be thy name,Thy kingdom comeThy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.Give us this day our daily bread.And forgive us our trespasses,As we forgive those who trespass against us.And lead us not into temptation,But deliver us from evil.For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.