Surprises in the Hall of Faith

By faith.  By faith.  By faith.  By FAITH.


So reads the famous "Hall of Faith" chapter in the New Testament - Hebrews 11.  As I read this chapter the other day, most of the names fit comfortably in my idea of "faith."  There was Abraham.  Noah.  Moses.  Easy - they all had much faith.


But then my eyes stopped at a name I didn't expect to see in Hebrews 11: Samson.


Samson?


Is this the same Samson who blatantly defied his parents - and God?  Is this the same Samson who chose a bride among the "uncircumcised Philistines" (Judges 14:3)?  Is this the same Samson who left his God-given purpose for a woman?  Is this the same Samson who foolishly gave away his 'secret' to the same woman who had betrayed him not once, not twice, but THREE times before?  Is this the same Samson?


Yeah - that's the one.


Samson chose a wife, not by his parents' guidance or God's precepts, but because "she was right in Samson's eyes" (Judges 14:7).


Eventually, Samson's self-centered foolishness led to his downfall.  His enemies, paid by his girlfriend, captured him, enslaved him, and blinded him by putting out his eyes.  For some time Samson performed servile tasks for his captors.


But little by little, Samson's hair grew back.  Day after monotonous day, it grew longer.  Matthew Henry points out that the growth of Samson's hair was not so much a sign of his strength as it was a sign of God once again working through him.  Samson was penitent of his past sins, and turned to the God who had orchestrated his entire life.


Then one day, the Philistines brought Samson out to gloat over him.  At long last, they had captured the elusive and legendary Samson of the neighboring Israelites.  Samson came out, led by the hand as his own eyes were no longer any good for him.  At Samson's request, the young man leading him placed Samson's hands on the pillars that were upholding the building.  Samson prayed to his God: and pushed hard on the pillars.


Thousands of Philistines died that day as they were having a good time and praising their god for delivering Samson to them.


I guess God had the last word.


Samson is only mentioned one more time in the Bible after his death in Judges 16.  That one time is in Hebrews 11, the Hall of Faith.


Who would have thought that a stubborn and rebellious young man would be named as a man of great faith?  God changed Samson's heart.  Once Samson turned to God, he put his faith in the only One deserving of his trust. Once Samson's own eyes were out of the question, he saw what was right in God's eyes - and acted on it.


God can redeem the lowest sinner.  And Samson could still follow God after refusing His leading for so long.


Just like Jonah still preached to Nineveh - after literally running away from God.  Peter still led the disciples - after denying Christ three times.  And who can forget Saul, who changed his name to Paul?  He wrote nearly half of the books in the New Testament - after agreeing to the stoning of the first Christian martyr.


Every great man or woman of God is also a great sinner.  "For all have sinned," Paul wrote under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  But God is a God of redemption, of saving that great sinner and making him or her a great servant of God.  All of history shows God's redemption.  All of our lives showcase His faithfulness.


Great men or women of faith are not great in and of themselves.  They are great because they have placed their faith in a faithful God - and they know that He is worthy of that faith.

"Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God..."

Hebrews 11:16

Happy Easter!

"But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise." And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest." Luke 24:1-9

How the angels must wonder at our surprise.  We're shocked when God rearranges "normal" for His purpose, as if we don't really believe that He is in control of everything.  To the angels, however, it made perfect sense: God kept His promise.

Everything we believe hinges on the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  "And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins" (1 Corinthians 15:17).  Without Easter, there would be no Christianity!  Everything we believe is founded on God's fulfillment of His promises.

Easter gives us hope because the God who was powerful enough to keep a promise made in the beginning ["he shall bruise your head" (Genesis 3:15)] is still all-powerful.  We know that He will also keep His promise to us: "'In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also'" (John 14:2-3).


Easter gives us purpose because the One who promised us great things has also given us work to complete (Ephesians 2:10).

Easter gives us victory because we are now made to be "more than conquerors" (Romans 8:37).

Easter gives us joy because that promise kept was given to us.  "See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God" (1 John 3:1a)!

It's hard to believe that the God of the universe stoops to make a promise to the wretches that are so far from the holy perfection He requires.  Even more incredible is that He keeps the promise.  It truly is amazing grace!  Is it any wonder that God takes promises seriously?  His own Son took our unbearable punishment for us, to keep a promise made before time began.  Through His grace, we are now "children of promise" (Galatians 4:28).

"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised IS faithful."
Hebrews 10:23, emphasis added

Have a wonderful Easter!

Untended

Some of you may remember the difficulty I had last year with growing lettuce. Actually, growing it was the easy part; warding off hungry (and persevering!) rabbits was where I had some problems. This year, due to time restraints, this intermittent gardener decided to not even attempt growing lettuce - I knew I wouldn't have the time to mess with rabbits.

To tell you the truth, I really hadn't done any cultivating at all when I finally ventured out to survey the condition of the weedpit - I mean, garden. It was just as I expected. Tall weeds, short weeds, prickly weeks, leafy weeds, vine-like weeds - maybe even some weeds unique to our garden. But as I kept looking, I noticed one plant that didn't quite fit in with all the other weeds. As I observed a little more closely, I realized what it was. Lettuce. Now, I know that I did not plant any lettuce this year. None. But there it was right in front of me: one solitary, healthy head of lettuce, and I had not done any work for it. On top of that, the rabbits hadn’t even touched it.

We often don’t understand why God chooses to give us gifts. David questioned why the kingdom of Israel was given to him. On that note, why did God choose the Israelites at all? And what had the disciples done to make them worthy to be the privileged few who were the closest to Jesus during His time on earth? One thing we know for sure: God doesn't give us gifts because we deserve them. After all, King David committed sins that hurt many people. The Israelites were far from faithful to God – most of the Old Testament tells of their yo-yo commitment to God and His ways. The disciples were continually bickering, arguing, and losing focus of the big picture (if they ever really had it in sight). Think of Jonah when he was stewing about God's compassion toward Nineveh: despite Jonah's sour attitude, God made a plant grow quickly to shade Jonah from the scorching heat (Jonah 4:1-11). Jonah didn’t deserve God’s compassion toward him, but God gave it to him anyway.

As Charles Spurgeon so aptly put it, “Soar back through all your own experiences. Think of how the Lord has led you in the wilderness and has fed and clothed you every day. How God has borne with your ill manners, and put up with all your murmurings and all your longings after the 'sensual pleasures of Egypt!' Think of how the Lord's grace has been sufficient for you in all your troubles.” Yes, God rewards obedience and faithfulness to Him, but sometimes He also gives generously for no reason that we can see or understand. And He gives generously. Who among us deserves an air-conditioned bedroom, a supportive family, or nice clothes? What have we done that makes us more worthy of these things than millions of other people around the world? Nothing. "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son," and, might I add, a million other smaller blessings that we often don't even think about.

One small head of lettuce may not seem like a big deal, and, from a practical point of view, it isn't. But God can teach us life lessons even through the little things. A message about His loving generosity surrounds us every day - a safe car ride, good meals, our favorite song on the radio, even an untended yet prospering head of lettuce. But we so rarely notice. We don't deserve God's patient love and generous gifts toward us. He gives them anyway. And that's something this intermittent gardener will think about next time I eat a salad.