The Kinds of People God Uses

Scripture passage that caught my attention today: Judges 13:24 The woman bore a son, and named him Samson. The boy grew, and the LORD blessed him.

Observation: God uses all kinds of people. Judges 13-16 reads quickly because, once one gets through the introductory part of chapter 13, the story of Samson really takes off. But it’s sort of crazy too. Samson is proclaimed to be a servant of God even before his birth, but he is a bit of a mischief maker and has horrible taste in women to boot. He left his first wife (who was actually from the opposing side and had betrayed him by telling his riddle secret), slept with a prostitute, and then married the infamous Delilah who also betrayed his secret. After he lost the bet related to his first riddle, rather than make the pay-off out of his own wares, he killed thirty people and took it from them. He would lie to his wife about what made him strong, but then again, what kind of spouse is always trying to ruin the other? Samson Judged Israel for 20 years and died in one final act of revenge against the Philistines whom we are told in 13:1 the Lord had put over Israel because Israel had done evil in the sight of the Lord.

Application: Exactly what kind of person does the Lord use? Answer, almost any kind of person.

For all the talk of Samson not drinking and being destined by God as a servant and the like, he still wouldn’t pass many modern morality tests. Yet the Bible understands him to be a notable Old Testament servant.

There’s no reason to praise his improprieties. Each of them brought about consequences. But none of them stopped him from ultimately being one of God’s servants.

One of the potential contenders for president in the upcoming election is Newt Gingrinch. The name doesn’t matter and I’m not for one moment suggesting that Newt in particular is or is not a good candidate. I have no idea. Nor am I suggesting that he is God’s servant. Again, I have no idea. But one often-touted drawback of his candidacy is his checkered relationship past. The story of Samson should give him some encouragement. The same goes for anyone else who has made some poor choices in life.

Prayer: Lord, sometimes it’s easy to separate people into separate people into good groups and bad groups. In reality, we are all one big group in total need of your grace and mercy and your ability to use us as we are. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

(Readings today included: Judges 13-16 and 2 Corinthians 2)