Samson

Samson's mother's name is not mentioned in the bible. It says that she was barren and childless and the the angel of the LORD appeared to her and said, "You are sterile and childless, but you are going to conceive and have a son. Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean, because you will conceive and give birth to a son. No razor may be used on his head, because the boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart to God from birth, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines." So the husband prayed and asked God to send the angel back to teach them how to raise their son. And God in his graciousness sends the angel back so Manoah asked him, "When your words are fulfilled, what is to be the rule for the boy's life and work?" The angel of the LORD answered, "Your wife must do all that I have told her. She must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, nor drink any wine or other fermented drink nor eat anything unclean. She must do everything I have commanded her." So not only must the boy be raised a particular way, but the mother must change the way she eats too. I found it interesting that the angel comes back and tells the husband exactly what the wife told him, but he had to hear it for himself. (men... I tell ya...)
This child was born into this world with a purpose in his life. God is still in the business of birthing children of purpose. Are the parents of the children of this day bothering to ask God how their children are to be raised? What is the rule for the child's life and work? Are we even consulting God about our children from birth at all? Or are we instead doing the best we can and only start the true praying after the problems start?
So the bible says that the woman gave birth to a son and they named him Samson and he began to feel the spirit of the Lord at an early age. Samson's gifts were the spirit of the Lord, riddles, and amazing strength. No one was stronger than Samson. But Samson had a weakness, it was foreign women. And instead of staying with the women of his own God, he had relationships with women who did not know his God. And his parents arranged a marriage for him with a woman from Philistia. Now wasn't that about amazing? The angel had told the woman before the boy was born that he would be used to destroy the Philistines... yet the father gives in and arranges a marriage with one of the very people he was born to destroy. That was just amazing to me. The marriage was actually arranged by God though and there was a fight at the wedding. Samson killed 30 men. The bride was given to the best man. Amazingly, Samson goes back to sleep with her some time later and her father had to tell him that she had been given to the best man. Samson destroys the Philistines. He rules over Israel as judge for 20 years.
I would like to end the story there, but it is not to be so....
Samson falls in love with a woman that the Philistine rulers use to find the secret to his strength. He doesn't give in to telling her what it is right away. But as she keeps nagging him, saying that he must not love her, eventually on the 4th time.. he tells her the truth. The Philistines are in wait and they come in and she has cut his hair (the symbol of his strength) and they tie him up and gouge his eyes out and have him pushing this grinding stone. I wonder if he had known that the true source of his strength was God, not his hair, would this have turned out differently for him? Eventually his hair starts to grow back and his strength is returning with it. The Philistines were going to use him as some sort of circus act at a big feast, and he prays and asks God for strength just one more time, to destroy the Philistines. God grants his request, and he pushes down big pillars that are holding the building up and he along with many, many Philistines die.
God can make good come of any circumstance and the will of God will always be fulfilled. Even if we screw up the way that it is supposed to happen, He will still get His end result. I don't know if Samson screwed up or if things worked out exactly as God planned. The bible doesn't tell us that. It seems to me though, that if he had been obedient to the ways of God, God still would have raised him up as the ruler/judge over Israel and possibly he would have reigned even longer. Possibly he would have destroyed the Philistines in wars instead of the way it worked out. My thoughts are not the thoughts of God. I don't know which way was His planned outcome. I just know that He worked all that Samson did to still have the same ending.