If Only...

O. T. #541  "If Only..."
June 18, 2015
Judges 14-Part 2
And he said unto them, If ye had not...  Judges 14:18b

LET IT GLOW

Did you notice that Samson made several trips down to the city of Timnath? (That's because his girl lived there among the Philistines.)
They include:

1. When he made his first trip, Samson saw her, then told his parents to get her for his wife.
2. During his second trip, when his parents with to contract the marriage, they got separated. Samson encountered a young lion and the Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily and was given strength to rip the lion's jaws apart with his bare hands. 
3. There may have been up to a year that passed before the two got married. When he was returning, Samson turned off the path to look at the lion's carcass. He found a swarm of bees had made some honey in the carcass. This guy scooped it up into his hands, eating it along the way, giving some to his parents.

Do we trust in the Lord's strength when confronted with problems? Do we ask for His strength to endure whatever?

LET IT GROW

When it was time to go to the final arrangements for the wedding, the three went to the Philistines' city. As the custom was, Samson threw a party, the bride's parents selected 30 young men to be his companions around town.

Guys will be guys, as they say, and Samson challenged those men to solve his riddle, found in verse 14. If they couldn't solve it, they'd give him 30 fine linen robes and 30 sets of festive clothing. (If they could, Samson would do likewise.) Three days later they were still trying to figure it out. Then they approached Samson's new wife, threatening her to get the answer or they'd burn down her father's house with her in it.

Using her tears, as females often do, Samson's wife tried to get Samson to tell her the answer to his riddle. He refused. He had not even told his parents. The bride cried every time she was with her husband, during the celebration, so he would tell her, but he would not. Finally, after the seventh day, he told her the answer because she was tormenting him with her nagging.

The wife told the threatening men the riddle's answer. (verse 18)  Before the end of the 7th day, the men told Samson the answer.

Samson replied, "If you hadn't plowed with my heifer, you wouldn't have solved my riddle!"

He was aware of the source of their information.

What does Samson do?

• He goes down to the town of Ashkelon,
• kills 30 men,
• takes their belongings,
• gives their clothing to the men who solved his riddle,
• is furious about the whole matter, and
• returns home to live with his parents.  (His wife was given in marriage to the best man at Samson's wedding.) (NLT)

What drama! It was Samson's own fault in the first place. If only he had not challenged those guys to solve his riddle, if he had not gone down into the Philistine city, if he had not seen the beautiful girl, then all of that would not have happened.

Are we the same way? We tell someone, "If only you had not..., then this would not have happened.
Or we find our self in a mess, thinking, "If only I had not do that."
Hind sight is 20/20.

Reality is, we have to live with and in the consequences of our actions and decisions. That is why it is so important that we seek the Lord and His Word before doing or making them. Then we won't get into such messes, live to regret something. Oh, that we could remember that advice. (Me, especially)

LET IT GO

Seek the Lord's will and ways before making a decision or actions.

Accept responsibility for my actions.

Learn from my mistakes.