Judges Sampson’s Wife
God was orchestrating things behind the scenes. Sampson’s wife was a Philistine. And the relationship between them sparked disaster for the Philistines.
Apparently, Sampson’s parents didn’t tell him “No” about anything. I’m wondering if this was a lifelong thing or just since he came of age. They could not physically restrain him, as he was the strongest of them all. It was against God’s laws for Israelites to marry outside of their own people; with a few exceptions. If the wife bowed down to the Lord, of if she was a virgin captive. These wives were permissible for Israelites to marry. Sampson’s bride had done neither.
Sampson fell in love with her. We don’t know what it was about her that enticed him, but her actions would repel him; to some degree. He actually held the marriage as valid until the day she was murdered.
Sampson also has trouble saying “No”, as his women’s lives clearly illustrate. Let’s jump into Sampson’s story. We will only go through the passages dealing with his first wife. The rest will keep for tomorrow.
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Sampson is a grown man, and as such, he began to feel the need to take a wife. He started keeping an eye open for the perfect wife for himself. Many women tried to throw themselves at him because of his strength and his outward beauty. Sampson didn’t like any of them. He thought of them as ‘airheads and void of the fire of life that he sought after. He decided to expand his search.
Sampson didn’t spend every waking hour searching for his future wife, but he did keep an eye open. One day, he came to the Philistine city of Timnah. There he saw the most BEAUTIFUL woman he had ever seen. He watched her for a while. She was directing a group of men in their labors. There were times when she had to exercise authority over the men. The fire Sampson saw in her during these times nearly drove him mad with desire. “SHE is the one for me!” Sampson told himself.
Sampson stayed where he was until the woman gathered her things to end the day. Sampson followed her at a discrete distance to find out where she lived. Armed with this knowledge, he headed for his own home. As soon as he walked in the door, he burst out with his news.
“Abba, Ima, I have found the woman I’m going to marry.”
His parents both lit up. Their son wanted a wife! “Who is the luck woman” his father asked.
“I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines at Timnah. Now get her for me as my wife.” (Judges 14:2)
Both his parent’s faces fell. They looked at one another for support. “You cannot be serious” his mother cried.
“Is there not a woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you must go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” (Judges 14:4a) pleaded his father.
Sampson set his jaw. He would not be denied this. “Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes.” (Judges 14:4b)
Sampson’s parents stop arguing with him. Sampson is as strong in mind as he is in body. When his mind is made up, there is no changing it. Manoah looked heavenward and sent up a small “I’m sorry” to the Lord.
“Do you think We should tell him”, asked the Spirit.
“No. They wouldn’t understand Our reasoning even if We did tell them”, answered Father.
“They certainly didn’t have this day in mind when they were told to expect a son” commented Jesus.
“Nor would they expect what comes next. Sampson’s ‘temper’ is about to boil over.”
“I’ve got to watch this” replied the Spirit with a ‘quiet down’ gesture as He turned His full attention to what was unfolding next. The rest of Heaven set Their eyes on it too.
Manoah and Tamara resigned themselves to the fact that their son was going to marry a Philistine woman. The next day, they prepared for the journey. Tamara wrapped bread and figs for the trip. Manoah cleaned the mud off of his favorite long-distance staff. And Sampson hopped from foot to foot, waiting for them to finally be ready to leave.
It was mid-morning by the time they set off for Timnah. Manoah and Tamara were fairly advanced in age, so their walking pace was much slower than Sampsons. To keep himself from getting frustrated with the pace of the journey, he often stepped off the road and roamed the field or vineyards at the sides of the road.
When they reached the outskirts of Timnah, Sampson was feeling extremely impatient. Rather than direct that impatience towards his parents, he went into the nearest vineyard. He planned on picking a few grapes to eat. Maybe even taking some back to his parents. The grapes were not very plentiful near the edge of the road, so Sampson went a little deeper into the vineyard.
As Sampson was about to pick some ripe and juicy grapes, he heard a sound. It was the roar of a lion. He turned and saw a young lion leaping through the air towards him. The Spirit of the Lord instantly descended on Sampson. Sampson quickly stepped to the side and caught the lion by its left front leg. He spun the lion in midair and brought it swiftly to the ground. With no more difficulty than a woman encounters when kneading her bread, Sampson pulled the foreleg from the lion’s body. Then he grasped its upper and lower jaws and literally pulled them apart from its head. Finally, he took hold of the body of the lion and tore it in two with his bare hands.
Once the deed was done, Sampson looked down and noticed the blood on his hands and arms. He quickly searched out a water trough and cleaned himself. He rubbed a little dirt on the places where the lion’s blood had stained his clothing. He hoped his parents would be none the wiser. Before quickly returning to them, he gathered a handful of grapes to bring back to them. This would keep them from wondering what kept him so long in the vineyard.
Sampson stepped back onto the road and put his hand out towards his mother. “I brought these for you Ima.”
“Thank you, Sampson. You are such a caring son.”
Tamara shared what Sampson had given her with Manoah. “These are good son. Where did you find them?”
“I searched around until I cam upon a nice spot. I only took a few; as the Law allows.”
“You are correct son. The Law does allow travelers to take a few on their way. So long as they don’t try and fill a basket with them.”
“No basket here, Abba” Sampson smiles while holding out his hands.
With the energy needed to dispatch the lion, Sampson no longer feels compelled to wander the other fields or vineyards. Sampson is also concentrating on the directions to his new wife’s house. He had only seen it once, but he was certain that he could find it again.
“This is it” exclaimed Sampson as he saw a house in the distance.
Manoah, Tamara, and Sampson turned off the road and went to the door of the house that Sampson had indicated. Manoah called out a greeting to a man he saw in the yard as they approached.
“Shalom my friend. We have business with the master of the house.”
“I am the master. Who might you be? And what kind of business would I have with an Israelite?”
Manoah pushed the gruff response aside and used his best manners to lighten the tension of the situation. “Hopefully, happy business. Our son here,…” Manoah put his hand on Sampson’s shoulder. “…would like to marry your daughter. We have come with a substantial bride price.” Manoah pats the money belt hidden beneath his robe.
The master of the house was pleased with this announcement. “Welcome then. Come. Let me get you something to drink and a place to rest.” He then called to his wife and two daughters who were in the house. “We have company!”
The small group entered the house and were surprised by its welcome. Mother and daughters rushed over with drinks for the visitors. “Sit here please” motioned the mother towards the best chairs in the room. Tamara sat down and Manoah stood behind her.
The young woman Sampson had his eye on was the eldest daughter. He name was Dana. Sampson stepped over to her to introduce himself. “I am Sampson of the tribe of Dan. I was here two days ago and I watched you in the marketplace. You are exquisite in beauty, are wise beyond your years, and possess a fire within you that drew me like a moth to it.”
Dana gave Sampson a smile so warm that he nearly melted at her feet. She did not shy away from the complement, like most women do. She took it and owned it, but she was not puffed up by it. “My name is Dana. I too saw you two days ago. You were across the square from where I was. I considered approaching you, under some pretext, but there were too many details I needed to attend to. By the time I was done, I was too tired for conversation; pleasant or otherwise.”
Sampson looked to his mother and father. “She is the one I want as my own. She pleases me greatly!”
Manoah clapped his hands once. Then it shall be.” He turned to Dana’s father with a questioning look. “If her father agrees.”
“He agrees”, said her mother. The whole room laughed.
Manoah and the girl’s father went outside to discuss the bride price and other formalities. Once the bride price was struck, the two were as good as married. Dana would wait for Sampson to come for her for their wedding.
As it was late in the day, the family stayed the night in Timnah and started home the next morning. Sampson couldn’t stop talking all the way home. He told his parents of all the things he wanted to do after he was married. The house he would build and the children he hoped to raise. As much as they loved seeing their son so happy, they were grateful to reach their front door where Sampson would feel free to leave his parents and go visit his friends.
“My ears hurt” Tamara said with a sigh.
“Mine too. But it is a good kind of hurt. Our son is happy.”
“He is at that.”
With Sampson’s strength, it didn’t take long for him to make a room on his parent’s home to bring his bride to. Once it was ready, it was time to go get his bride. During the negotiations with Dana’s father, it was decided that he would host the bridal week. His vineyard was the perfect setting. All Sampson’s parents need do was to arrive and enjoy. Sampson would arrange and pay for the wedding feast, once they arrived
Two months later, Sampson, Manoah, and Tamara again make their way to Timnah. This time they are carrying an extra change of clothing for the ceremony, along with food for the journey there. Sampson is as excited as he was during their first journey, and finds himself roaming through the fields to distract him from the slow pace his parents are setting.
When they approach the vineyard where Sampson slew the lion, he is reminded of the events. “I wonder if the carcass is still there” thinks Sampson. Seeing that his parents are safe, Sampson goes into the vineyard to check the place where he killed the lion. When he gets close, Sampson spies a lump lying on the ground and a swarm of insects buzzing around it. As he approaches the carcass, he sees that it has been sundried and the flesh gone. What is left is a skeleton covered by tough skin. The insects that he spied in the distance are bees. They have built a honeycomb inside the cavern of the lion. Sampson brushes some of the bees aside and reaches into the carcass. He scoops out some of the honey and breaks off a large piece of honeycomb. He turns away from the lion and goes to rejoin his parents on the road. He licks his fingers which are covered in honey. On the way back, he breaks the honeycomb into three pieces. He presents his parents each with a piece for them to enjoy on the rest of their journey.
“Thank you, Sampson. You never cease to amaze me with your finds” Manoah says as he tastes the honeycomb.
“I agree. And this is delicious” agrees Tamara.
When they reach the home of Dana’s father they are greeted warmly. “Well, it looks like we will have a wedding tomorrow” says Dana’s father.
The plans were already prepared. All that needed to be done before the big day was to inform the guests of the time. As Sampson was a guest in this country, he hadn’t brought any companions to be with him. Dana’s father arranged for 30 of the young men of the area to stand in for this task.
Sampson greeted the group warmly. He had met some of them on his previous journeys to Timnah. They went with him as he made arrangements for the feast to be served. His companions showed him the best shops for all that he needed. When all was arranged, they returned to Dana’s father’s home to await the ceremony. Sampson decided to give them a challenge while they waited. He knew they would not be able to answer him correctly, for only he knew this answer.
“Let me now put a riddle to you. If you can tell me what it is, within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothes, but if you cannot tell me what it is, then you shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothes.” (Judges 14:12-13a)
The men looked at one another. Surely there was nothing they couldn’t answer together. And they would all get a richer in the bargain. “Put your riddle, that we may hear it.” (Judges 13b)
Sampson smiled slyly at them as he told them his riddle. “Out of the eater came something to eat.
Out of the strong came something sweet.” (Judges 14:14)
The men’s brows began to wrinkle. This riddle would take so doing to figure out. Many guesses were shouted out, to which Sampson always shook his head no.
The wedding ceremony overshadowed the riddle; for a time. The bride was beautiful and Sampson was enraptured when he took her into the bridal tent that first night. He gently took her in his arms and there she remained the rest of the night. Whenever she would stir to move away, he would smother her in kisses and their passion would rekindle.
When morning came, she mentioned to Sampson that she had heard that he had posed a riddle to his companions. “What was the riddle you gave them” she asked.
“Out of the eater came something to eat. Out of the strong came something sweet” repeated Sampson.
“That is a difficult riddle. What does it mean?”
“The purpose of the riddle is for the other to figure that out. Not for me to disclose it” he chided her as he touched her with his fingertip on her nose.
Each day, the answer to the question of the riddle became more urgent, to both Sampson’s companions and Dana. By the third day, Sampson’s companions had exhausted their ideas. They were not only perplexed, but they were growing angry and desperate. “Who did this Israelite think he was dealing with? We are Philistines! Philistines don’t GIVE Israelites anything. THEY give it to us. We MUST find the answer. Otherwise, we are going to make him a rich man. And we will wind up paupers.”
“Why don’t we get his wife to give us the answer.”
“She might refuse. She’s not the easiest one to bend to your will.”
“She’ll bend if you put the fear in her.”
“What do you mean?”
“Threaten her family and she will cave like and empty jar when a donkey steps on it.”
The plan was made and all that was left was for it to be put in motion. They waited until the bridal couple were back with the rest of the guests before approaching her.
“You two go keep Sampson busy while we work on Dana.”
Dana was at the banquet table looking for something she would like to eat when two of the men assigned as Sampson’s companions approached her.
“Finding something good to eat” one asked her.
She looked up at him for a moment. She could tell by the way he was standing that he was up to something. He was crowding in close, and it was making her uncomfortable. She glanced over in Sampson’s direction and saw two of his companions talking with him. She knew that if these men tried anything, and she screamed, Sampson would be there in a flash to deal with them.
“What do you want” she asked with steel in her voice and fire in her eyes.
“We want to know the answer to Sampson’s riddle.”
“What makes you think he told me anything about a riddle?”
“Don’t be coy with me. I know he told you the riddle. All we want is the answer.”
“Fine. He told me the riddle, but I haven’t been able to get the answer out of him. You coming to me means that you haven’t figured out the answer either.”
“No. We haven’t. And that is about to become of great concern to you.”
“How so” she asked, looking sideways at them.
“Because if you DON’T get us that answer by the end of the feast, we will burn your house down with your whole family in it.”
“You wouldn’t dare!” She glared daggers at them.
“Do you want to bet your little sister’s life on it? Because that’s what you will be doing. We WILL burn it, and be certain that YOU are in it too.”
Part of her wanted to refuse these men out of spite for their tactics, while the other part was afraid for her family’s lives. Some of the companions provided to Sampson weren’t of the greatest character. She could imagine them carrying through on their threat. “I’ll do my best, but I can’t promise anything.”
“You better do better than that, because I WILL promise you something. And don’t even THINK of going to Sampson for help. We’ll know if you do, and you won’t like what we do to you afterwards.”
With that, the two men left Dana at the banquet table. Her appetite was gone. She HAD to get the answer to the riddle out of him. It became her primary mission.
That evening, in the bridal chamber, Dana approached Sampson again about the riddle. “Tell me the answer to the riddle.”
Sampson brushed her question aside and began to nuzzle her neck. She pushed him away and moved to the other side of the tent. “Tell me the answer.”
Sampson looked at her perplexed. “Why do you want to know? It doesn’t concern you.”
“You only hate me; you do not love me. You have put a riddle to my people, and you have not told me what it is.” (Judges 14:16a) she cried.
Sampson’s voice took on a sternness as he answered her cries. “Behold, I have not told my father nor my mother, and shall I tell you?” (Judges 14:16b)
“Because I’m your wife!”
“Let’s not argue. It’s late and we need to go to bed.” Sampson moved over to where Dana was and touched her chin. “And I’m hungry” he said while wiggling his eyebrows.
Dana pushed past him and went to lie down on their mat. She rolled her face away from him. Sampson came in behind her and placed a soft hand on her shoulder. She pushed it away. He tried one more time before giving up for the night. He tried snuggling her from the back side, but she scooted away with every touch. Resigning himself to a loveless night, Sampson turned over and went to sleep. Dana stayed awake for hours planning how to entice Sampson to reveal his secret.
This behavior and worse continued until Sampson could no longer take it. “Fine” he bellowed on the morning of the seventh day. “I killed a lion when we first came to meet your family. When we came back for the wedding, I found that the bees had made a nest inside. They had made a honeycomb, which I took some of and ate. Are you satisfied now? Can we get back to normal?”
“I’m sorry. That was a very difficult riddle. Let me go freshen up and then we can get back to the rest of our ‘bridal time’ together.”
Dana slipped from the tent and went in search of Sampson’s companions. When she found the one who had spoken to her, she told him the story.
“Good work. Now go back to him before he gets suspicious.”
“Then my family is safe?”
“Yes. They are safe. Now, go!”
Dana came back to the bridal tent and spent the rest of the morning pleasing Sampson. He was glad she was in such a good mood. But in the back of his mind, he had a growing suspicion that there was more to her behavior than she was letting on.
Early afternoon the couple emerged from their tent. This was the last day of the feast. The day when Sampson would receive his riches for stumping his companions. They gathered around Sampson a little later in the day.
“Have you and answer for my riddle” Sampson asked with a sly smile.
“What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?” (Judges 14:18a)
Sampson’s jaw dropped open for a moment, before considering his wife’s insistence on knowing the answer. His eyes narrowed to slits as he spoke to them again. “If you had not plowed with my heifer,
you would not have found out my riddle.” (Judges 14:18b) With that he stormed away.
As Sampson stormed from the enclosure, the Spirit of the Lord came on him again and a plan sprang to his mind. He would NOT make these men richer or impoverish himself paying them their winnings. He would take what he needed from the bodies of their own people. Sampson went on a rampage. He found 30 men of the city and killed each one of them. He stripped them naked and added their clothes to his growing pile. Once he had taken all that he needed to pay his pledge, he returned to the festival.
“Here are your garments” he spat at the men who were his companions. Then he turned and stormed off. He went straight to his father’s house. And he remained angry for several weeks. His anger did subside, but the hurt stayed with him for a long time.
When Sampson left the wedding, Dana’s father was confused. He came to her and asked what had happened. She told him all of it, including how she had pried the secret from him.
“O daughter! You have done you husband a great wrong. He will no longer love you.”
As Dana broke done in great sobs, her father gathered her to himself. “We will find you another husband right away. His best man is the traditional one to take his place. I will arrange it right away.”
Dana sat quietly and waited while her father made the arrangements. She struggled with guilt over the whole affair. If she would have only gone to Sampson with their threat, none of this would have happened. Sampson proved that he was stronger than any man. Now he was lost to her forever.
Time passed and Sampson’s heart began to long for Dana again. It was harvest time and the wheat was golden and tall in the fields. Sampson came to Manoah and told him of his plans.
“I will go in to my wife in the chamber.” (Judges 15:1b)
Manoah didn’t bother to try and stop him. When Sampson got something in his mind, he followed it through.
Sampson arrived at his father-in-law’s vineyard about midday. He strode across the yard to where the man was working. “I have come to visit my wife. Where is she?”
The man’s face drained of color at Sampson’s words. Then he told him what had happened after Sampson left. “I really thought that you utterly hated her, so I gave her to your companion…” Dana’s father turned towards the house and held his hand out towards his younger daughter. “…Is not her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please take her instead.” (Judges 15:2)
Sampson’s eyes grew narrow and his fists opened and closed. With a voice filled with menace he said; “This time I shall be innocent in regard to the Philistines, when I do them harm.” (Judges 15:3)
Dana’s father watched Sampson storm off for the third time. He KNEW danger was in the air, but he had no idea how to stop it, or what it would bring. He hung his head in shame.
Sampson went into the hills. He had a plan and it was going to be something that the Philistines would NEVER forget. They had wronged him and they would pay for their actions.
Sampson spent the rest of that day in the hills hunting and gathering foxes. He put them in a pit after he caught each of them. When evening fell, he had about 300 of them gathered together in a pit. It was time for retribution to begin.
Sampson took the foxes, two at a time from the pit. He tied their tails together and secured a torch between the tails. Then he stuck them back in the pit. He did this until all the foxes were tied with torches. Next, he drew them as pairs from the pit and lit the torches on fire. Then, he turned them loose. They ran for their lives; right through the standing grain fields of the Philistines.
The standing grain, the stacked grain, and even the olive groves were burst into flames from the fox’s mad panic. By morning all that remained of their crop was ashes. The men of the city demanded to know who had done this, for it was clearly no accident.
“Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife and given her to his companion.” (Judges 15:6b)
In retribution for the loss of their crops, the men of the city decided to take their revenge on Dana and her family. They rush into the home, subdue those inside, bind them, and then search out Dana. She will suffer their fate too. Once she is brought to the home, the men latch all the doors and windows and then set fire to the home. All who were in it scream in pain as the fire rages around them. The screams die before the flames as all are now dead.
Sampson saw the flames going up from where he was at in the hills, but he didn’t realize it was his father-in-law’s home right away. By the time he recognized it, those inside were already dead. Sampson made it to the scene as the flames were dying down for lack of fuel. He was furious with what he saw. Yes. His father-in-law had done him wrong, but Dana was still his wife. And they KILLED her!
Sampson faced those who were still standing there. “If this is what you do, I swear I will be avenged on you, and after that I will quit.” (Judges 15:7)
As soon as he finished speaking he attacked the men who where there. He didn’t kill any of them, but he did seriously wound them; breaking many hips and shoulders. When all the men lay defenseless on the ground, Sampson fled the area. He went to the cleft of the rock in Etam. He stayed there and mourned his wife and her family.
The men who were left wounded at the site of the massacre were able to summon help. When it was learned what Sampson had done and where he was, they sent out troops to bring him back for judgment.
The army of the Philistines came and encamped in the territory of Judah and made a raid on the town of Lehi. The people of Judah were confused as to why the Philistines would be attacking them. They had not rebelled against them. They paid their tribute. Why was this happening?
Leaders from the area came to ask the Philistines that very question. They went to the commander of the army. “Why have you come up against us?” (Judges 15:10a)
“We have come up to bind Samson, to do to him as he did to us.” (Judges 15:10b) the commander answered.
“What has he done?”
That question had a whole host of answers. “First, he killed 30 men to settle a bet. Next, he sent foxes with torches through our fields and burned everything. And finally, he struck the men who took it upon themselves to right the wrong he was raging against!”
The leaders shook their heads. They had heard rumors of the trouble between Sampson and his in-laws, but they didn’t know it had gone this far. They actually sympathized with him; or at least from the stories they had heard. But now their own lives were in danger. Sampson was only one man. Why should they all suffer for the hurt of one man? It was decided. They would turn Sampson over to the Philistines to stop this madness.
Three thousand men from Judah gathered together and went up to where Sampson was. Sampson was NOT someone you addressed alone. They easily found him at the cleft of the rock of Etam. He looked like a man who had lost his best friend. Pain was etched in every line on his face. As the men approached, they were careful not to antagonize him.
“What do you want” Sampson asked.
“Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?” (Judges 15:11b)
Sampson answered them in a voice devoid of all emotion. “As they did to me, so have I done to them.” (Judges 15:11c) “What does it matter to you?”
The spokesman of the group spread his hands in a helpless gesture. “We have come down to bind you, that we may give you into the hands of the Philistines.” (Judges 15:12a)
Sampson looked at them. The indignation of the situation was beginning to show in his eyes. “Swear to me that you will not attack me yourselves.” (Judges 15:12b)
“No; we will only bind you and give you into their hands. We will surely not kill you.” (Judges 15:13) they promised Sampson.
“All right”, said Sampson. He put out his hands for them to bind.
The men used two new ropes to bind Sampson securely. They wrapped the rope around his wrists, then bound his forearms to his body with several loops of rope. When they were satisfied that Sampson was bound securely, they led him to the Philistine army at Lehi.
Sampson didn’t resist them the whole journey. He went calmly with them. Once they reached Lehi, the Spirit of the Lord covered Sampson again and his strength surged. The ropes binding him snapped as easily as the stem of a flower. The men of Judah ran back in fright. Sampson saw the jawbone of a donkey lying on the ground near where he stood. He reached down, picked it up, and with a mighty roar, began attacking the Philistine soldiers who had come to kill him.
It took Sampson hours to subdue the Philistine army completely. He would advance on them, and they would surround him. Several men came at him at once. He let them get close enough to be in reach of his weapon, they he dashed from man to man, striking them with this simple bone. They fell where they were; never to rise again. By the time the battle ended, over 1,000 of the best Philistine soldiers lay dead at Sampson’s feet.
After the last man fell under the hand of Sampson, he looked at the weapon he had wielded for this battle. He shook his head in amazement. “With the jawbone of a donkey, heaps upon heaps, with the jawbone of a donkey have I struck down a thousand men.” (Judges 15:16) As soon as he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone of the donkey he had wielded so skillfully.
Sampson’s was spent. His energy was gone and his mouth and throat were parched dry. He called out to the Lord for help. “You have granted this great salvation by the hand of your servant, and shall I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” (Judges 15:18)
The Lord answered Sampson immediately. There was a hollow spot in the earth at Lehi that God opened for Sampson. Water gushed forth from it and Sampson was able to drink his fill. Once his thrust was quenched, Sampson washed the blood from his arms, hands, and face. Then he sat down to rest. His spirit was revived after a short time. “It’s over” Sampson thought to himself. And it was; at least for a time.
Sampson went on to rule as a judge in Israel for 20 years, before his temper and his appetites got him into trouble again.
(to be continued)
Sampson had a quick temper. And God used it! It amazes me what God can use. Even our worst attributes can be turned for good when given to the Lord to work with. I have stories of when my tenacity (stubbornness to those who call it what it is) was called on for a good result. I remember praying for help in at least a few of these times. I believe that God gave me the strength I needed, when I needed it, when I gave HIM control of the outcome. And I also remember times when my same traits got me into trouble. The difference was the original reason for the altercation. If it was self-serving, disaster was the outcome. If it was for righting a wrong, success awaited at the conclusion. And prayer was always a directing force for MY attitude as well as my actions.
Father God, thank You for calming my quick temper. For moving me past the anger at stupid things. I know I still struggle with getting angry when I’m interrupted, but You are working on that too. I’ll leave it in YOUR capable hands. I’m GLAD I’m not a Sampson! Who knows what kind of damage I would have done with his strength.
