Super heroes are amazing. Their super strength and feats are dazzling. As children, many of us want to be like Superman, Batman or Spider Man. Well, the Bible tells of one super hero whose name was Samson. He was “tank,” meaning he was a bundle of protein & muscle. He had super strength and would fit in the category of the Incredible Hulk.  And just like fictional super heroes, Samson volunteered his time without pay for the sake of the public good. In Samson’s case, it was to save the country from the Philistines.

Just as fictional super heroes have secret identities, Samson had his. In Israel, he was just a coach potato but once he got to Philistia, he became Samson the super hero. Samson also had a trademark weapon:  the jaw bone of a donkey. His enemies were the Philistines and like all superheroes, there was a secret to this strength: his hair. Unfortunately, just as Superman had kryptonite, Samson had a razor.

Samson’s story is told to us for one reason:  God doesn’t want to work through super heroes. In fact, throughout the Bible we find God using men who build teams. Why? Because He wants each of us to be included in the whole process.  As for Samson, although he had strength, his weaknesses were greater.  

In many ways, we are like Samson. We prefer to go to the Lord with strengths first. We want to take care of this and that first before we present ourselves unto the Lord. On the contrary, the Lord wants us to come before Him with our weaknesses and problems first. It is through our problems that the Lord will work and reveal His strength. David was a good example of this.

Let’s compare how Samson and David managed their weaknesses and strengths. Both men were involved in a war (the war took hundreds of years to win) yet we see how one man failed and the other succeeded. One of them had a management plan and applied it to his life. Let’s see how can we apply the lessons of their weakness and strengths to our lives…

HOW CAN WE GET RIGHT RESULTS AT THE RIGHT PRICE?

There are two key points to understand about weaknesses:  the first key is from Samson’s life and the second key is from David’s. The lesson we learn from Samson life is…

1.    IF YOU BRING ONLY YOUR STRENGTHS YOU WILL BE SMASHED BY YOUR WEAKNESSES.

Although Samson was a man of great physical strength, the roof fell on him. By this we learn that Samson had more weaknesses than strength; in fact, he had three weaknesses. The first is…

SAMSON FAILED BECAUSE HE TRUSTED IN HIS…

Relationships: If you are not content with God first you will be at the mercy of hurtful relationships.

Samson could not handle being alone; he needed a woman by his side. In fact, there were three of them:  his wife, a prostitute and a mistress. This shows us that Samson was fearful and insecure. Instead of looking godly girls, he looked for good looking girls. “Samson said to his father, ‘Get her for me, for she looks good to me’” (Jud. 14:3). Although she looked good to Samson, did she look good to God? Obviously Samson’s own desires came first but in relationships, we should seek what would make God happy first.

If you’re not content with the Lord being first in your life then you will always be at the mercy of hurtful relationships. You see, it is very important to be a whole person before getting into a relationship. We should not depend on someone else be our other half. If we do, we’ll always be looking for things in the other person and only end up disappointed.  More than this, remember that only God can fill you. The other person is only a human being and they can’t be everything to you. Hence if you expect them to, you’ll be frustrated with them.

On the other hand, if you are a whole person in the Lord and your prospective wife or husband is a whole person in the Lord, God will make you one together. This is God’s plan for us:  love Christ first and you’ll bring the love of Jesus to your prospective wife or husband and this will be the foundation of a happy and secure relationship.

As for Samson, his job was to start a war where no one wanted to fight. At that time, the Israelites were oppressed by the Philistines who were more advanced in technology. You see, the Philistines were early users of iron and had instruments that were forged and sharpened. With this, the Israelites were dominated and controlled by Philistines, and angry with Samson for daring to make them free.  This brings us to the second reason Samson failed…

Self-Image: If it is always about you then there will never be room for others to grow.

“Then 3,000 men of Judah went…and said to Samson, “Do you not know that the philistines are rulers over us?’” (Jud. 15:11). The people did not want Samson to mess with the status quo. Apparently, they wanted to stay as slaves. Meanwhile, Samson wanted to do the Braveheart thing which was to free the Israelites.   So why didn’t Samson challenge the Israelites thinking? The story continues saying that Samson never argued with them. Why? Because he was always about himself; he was not a team builder. He wanted to be spectacular and successful. Unfortunately, Samson did not have the ability to develop other’s potential. In fact, Samson needed direction and leadership himself.   

Then, Samson’s third weakness was about keeping his word or keeping his woman.

Promises: You won’t lead others until you can lead yourself.

“It came about when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, that his soul was annoyed to death. So he told her all that was in his heart…” (Jud. 16:16-17). Because he fell to the temptation of a seductive woman, he ended up giving away the secret of his strength: his hair. Once his hair was cut, it led to his downfall.

Samson had a big ego and no self-discipline. Without self-discipline, his desires overcame him and he was unable to make wise decisions that would please God.

Despite Samson’s weakness, it was his job to start a war and he did. But how did it end and how did the victory come? Well, years later we find that King David rules and eventually annihilates the Philistines. So David finished the work that Samson started. But unlike Samson, David was a completely different kind of leader. Although David faced the same things that Samson did, he took a completely different direction.  From Samson and David, we clearly see how Jesus would like each of us to walk.  Let’s take a look at David’s take on weakness.

The key of all character is what you do when no one is looking.

Many of us have a strength program where we want to get fit and strong. Ironically, David had a weakness management program. It was through his weakness that he found God’s strength. This is the summary of David’s life which brings us to the second key point of how to get the right results at the right price:

2.    IF YOU KNOW WHERE TO BE WEAK YOU CAN ALWAYS BE STRONG.

For some reason, many think that you need to be strong when you come to Christ. When in fact, being weak is a joy when we follow Christ. It is also safe to be weak in the arms of Jesus. He is strong through us. So how do we manage our weakness? Here are three things David did.

DAVID’S WEAKNESS MANAGEMENT PLAN

·        Tell God you are weak.

It’s all wrapped in the first song that David wrote which was called “The Lord is my Shepherd.” When David was young, his first job was as a shepherd. Although he led sheep, he wondered and asked himself who was his shepherd. This was a light-bulb moment for him; thus the first line of his song was, “The Lord is my Shepherd.” David knew he was weak and needed a Shepherd. Is there someone leading our lives in safe and fruitful ways? Do we have a Shepherd?

Then again, do we even know that we are sheep? Many times we think we’re super heroes and forget that we’re sheep. Did you know that you’ll never see a sheep with a pack on its back? Yet we see a lot of humans carrying around a lot of burdens and problems. What does this tells us?

Being that we are sheep, we should give our burdens to Christ the Shepherd. He is the One who’ll lead us. David chose the Lord as his Shepherd and it led him to the next discovery…

·        Respect your limits.

By coming before the Lord, David was led to green pastures and made to lay down. Similary, when we’re weak, we are more apt to be aware of areas in life that we do not perform well in.  Knowing our limits is a good thing because so often, when we don’t recognize or respect our limits, we end struggling to do things we were not designed to do and ruining our marriages, friendships and finances in the process.  Instead, if you’re weak in an area (e.g., your finances or marriage), go for godly counseling. Samson did not respect his limits and weaknesses and ended up losing everything; however, David knew how to work within his weaknesses. This brings us to the third factor of David’s weakness management plan…  

·        But never limit what God can do through you.

David knew that God could conquer the things that he could not, so the lesson for us is:  never limit God by your weaknesses. And to take it even further, when you give a weakness to God you should be full of expectation because it is through this sort of humility that Lord will reveal His strength. The Lord takes full responsibility of every life given to Him. It is through your weakness that He is strong. Now that we’ve examined David’s weakness management plan, let’s see how it worked out in his life. 

SEE HOW DAVID APPLIED HIS PLAN WITH HIS…

Remember, Samson and David had the same problems in life – the first of which was in relationships. Samson indulged himself in romantic relationships (which eventually led to his defeat) however David took a different approach. King Saul suggested to David that he marry Saul’s daughter but David said, “Who am I, and what is my family in Israel that I should be the king’s son-in-law?” (1Sam. 18:18). This tells us that David knew it was not God’s time for him to be married; he needed to learn and grow more in the Lord. It turns out that King Saul’s daughter married another man and David lost out however this shows us what a remarkable security David had in his relationship with God. So here is David’s first lesson.

Relationship: Follow Christ and stop chasing relationships to find a satisfying life-partner.

So where can we find a good wife or a good husband? The Bible tells us, “A good wife is a gift from the Lord,” so if you’re looking for a partner, put yourself in the best place to receive such a gift from God:  serving within the Body of Christ. If you’re a woman looking for a good husband, stay close to Jesus. Why? Because Jesus is the one who’ll give you a good man as a gift. The same goes for men: if you’re looking for a partner, just stay close to Jesus. Remember that a good gift comes from the Lord. When you stay close to the Lord, He will introduce you to the right person to complement your life. He will do this as you stay faithful to Him.  

 The first lesson from David was to follow Christ and trust Him to fulfill your relational needs.  Then the second lesson we learn from David is…

Self-Image: There is no limit to the good you can do if you don’t care who gets the credit.

David’s first conquer was Goliath in the battle with the Philistines but Goliath had four brothers. Although it took several decades, David conquered them as well but who is credited?  “These four Philistines were descendants of the giants of Gath, but David and his warriors killed them.” (2Sam. 21:22). This tells us David and his warriors killed the enemy, not just David. Additionally, it tells us that David was not self-centered or an insecure leader. Instead, David was a secure man in the Lord. He had successful people around him and had the ability to set them up for success.

Remember, if you’re in it for Christ, this makes all the difference and lastly…

Promises: Strength is not just what you can do but what you choose not to do.

How do you do when no one is watching? There is a point in David’s story when he is hiding in a cave from someone who is hunting him. His enemy walks into the cave to go to the bathroom and catch what David does when his enemy with his pants down:

 “The Lord placed you at my mercy back there in the cave. Some of my men told me to kill you, but I spared you. For I said, ‘I will never harm the king-he is the Lord’s anointed one.’” (1Sam. 24:10)

It was at that moment where David chose to spare King Saul’s life. How could he do this? Well, David won the war that Samson failed to win. He won because he knew how to manage his weaknesses in order for God to be strong in him. So answer this:  do you want the strength to bear the weight of the world on your shoulder or do you simply want to trust Jesus and let Him carry the world for you?

The stories of Samson and David illustrate the dos and don’ts of getting the right results at the right price.  Unfortunately, Samson’s story shows that if you bring only your strengths you will be smashed by your weaknesses. From Samson, we learn that if you are not content with God first, you will be at the mercy of hurtful relationships, if it is always about you then there will never be room for others to grow, and you won’t lead others until you can lead yourself.  On the other hand, David’s story illustrates how if you know where to be weak, you can always be strong (through Christ Jesus).  Through David, we learn that you should tell God you are weak, respect your limits, but never limit what God can do through you.

Applying David’s lessons to life…

·        In relationships, we should stay close to Christ and stop chasing relationships.  If we do, God will provide us with all we need.

·        In self-image, because glory ultimately belongs to the Lord, there is no limit to the good you can do if you don’t care who gets the credit.

·        In promises, strength is not only what you can do, but what you choose not to do.

Remember, we are all sheep in need of a Shepherd. How good it is to be the sheep of His flock! In this, we say “The Lord is my Shepherd”!

Discussion Suggestions

1.      With relationships, what are my strengths and weaknesses?

2.      Am I still chasing relationships or am I willing to be content in staying close to Jesus?  Explain.

3.      In this season, although I have limits, am I hindering what God can do through me?

4.      Group:  Read Psalm 23.

5.      What impacted me most, and how will I be a better person because of it?