Samson Solomon Saul and me

Saul, Samson, Solomon and me.

Four men with very differing lives yet all have one thing in common. At one time or another in their lives they all left God, forgot He was the reason for all in their lives. The victories, the successes, the power.

Samson was dedicated, by his parents, to the service of the Lord. He was to be a deliverer of God's people. He had strength, godly parents and a purpose in life.

Solomon was the wisest man to ever live, tasked with building the Temple of God.
Saul was the very first king of Israel when they decided they needed a king to rule over them instead of God. They were given a tall, handsome man and a goodly man.

All of these men, when they were young, were fervent in the Lord, by all accounts they had a good family life, godly parents, and A firm grounding in the faith.

The one thing they all had in common? They all left God. He didn't leave them, they left Him and His path.
Samson chased after strange women and caused his own downfall.

Solomon? Chased after wine, women, and song. All the pleasures the earth had to offer; Solomon chased.
Saul? Listened to the voice of the people, made foolish vows, cowered in his tent when the challenge came and disobeyed God.
These 3 men had a purpose in life ordained by God and they all started out right and good then they got out into the world and they forgot for a moment what they were supposed to do, what they were there for.
Samson came to his senses after being blinded and bound, his last act was a return to God and His purpose,
Solomon in his old age returned to the Lord after finding out that life is vanity. He wrote Proverbs and Ecclesiastes books of wisdom for those coming behind.
Saul was replaced by David and never got over his disobedience, mainly because he never realized he had lost God's blessing on his life.

How many times have we heard and seen this same story in today's world?
I was raised in church, saved at the age of 8 or 9 (46ish yrs ago, hard to remember the age but I do remember Christ and I meeting, giving Him my heart and my life, I also remember the baptism in the Meramec river)  in Union Missouri, felt the call to serve God at 15 and then things happened and I left God.
He never left me. I took my life back into my own hands. Big Mistake.
I can't tell you how many times I ignored His voice, for quite sometime.

Then I returned to the church but did not yet return to God. I served in the church, taught, drove for the church and then things happened and once again I left God, though I was never truly back. I was serving the church but not The God. For years I fought against his voice. Even though I knew there was so much more He had for me, I refused, blaming Him for what people had done in my life, to me.
Yet it was always my fault for reacting wrong and walking out of His Will. They made their decisions and I made mine, I will answer for my, not their choices, no matter how affected I was by theirs.

Now in my early 50’s I am doing finally what God asked me to do so long ago. I am serving through the writings, the radio, the preaching, and the Word God gives me. I am no longer serving the church, I am no longer doing things to make someone happy, I am doing God's work that He asked me to do.

Because it is MY purpose that HE gave to me.

Like so many others I left God. Things happened in my life and I left Him instead of clinging tighter to the cross and leaning on Him. That's my fault, my reaction is what makes me who or what I am not what someone else does.

When we let circumstances dictate what we are, Who we are, what we do, instead of God and His Word we will always fail.

Samson, Solomon, and Saul. They left God. They turned their back on Him.
How often do we do the same?
How many times have we turned a bad situation in our life into a catastrophe because we react in the flesh and in our own understanding? Of course that assumes that we understand what is happening, many times we do not understand why things are happening and instead of waiting on God we lash out, we blindly give up instead of trusting God,
Instead we turn to alcohol, drugs, sex, or some such nonsense: we turn to temporal comfort instead of resting on Him and His Word.

God forgives, God heals, but God does not take away the consequences of our actions.
Yet through our past experiences, just as Solomon we can teach others of the pitfalls, the dangers, the redemptive road back, the loving mercy and grace of the Father.
We can tell of God's mercy and Grace.
We can tell of His never ending Love.
We can cultivate our testimony, blending our mistakes, and our failures with our testimony to be a witness to those coming behind, those going where we were to help them through their trials.
There is no going back and undoing all the harm we did to ourselves and others.
There is no making up for lost time.
There is no fix quick and easy. There is only today and what we are doing with our testimony, our purpose now.

I can't even say that now I react righteously to things going on, I can only say that My God has never left me nor yet given up on me.
I am not a good man, definitely not a righteous man. I am a man. A poor sinner saved by grace and allowed to serve my God in the way that He has given me.
Thank God that He forgives me daily.
He is truly a merciful God, who knows me inside and out.
Despite who I was, who I am He allows me to still be a small part of His Purpose.

Perfection will never be attained in this world. Holiness will be acquired one day at a time, there will be setbacks, there will still be sin in my life.
Yet through His Grace and His mercy I may live and serve and be a testimony for Him and His love.
If He can love and use me, imagine what He can do with you?

If He can love me and use me then He can forgive anyone and restore them to His fellowship.
I can be a beacon of Light to those who feel that they are too bad, too damaged, to set in their ways, too old, too scarred.

Once we realize we can not attain a thing in our own flesh and strength.
There is none righteous no not one.
For The wages of sin are death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus our Lord.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son that whosoever calls upon Him might be saved.
Hide thy words in my heart that I might not sin against thee.

1Jn 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

If you fall, if you sin there is a way to get back to Him. Pray, confess the sin and move on.

Notice He doesn’t say go to the church and admit your sin, nor the confessional booth. He says confess to Him and He will forgive.

No matter what has happened, what is happening, God will forgive and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

When you can not forgive you, when you can not let it go, when you can not release yourself from the guilt, call on Him and He can.

Samson never let go, never figured out it was God doing all the winning until the last moments of his life.

Solomon learned late in life God and what He did for you, what you do for Him is all that matters.

Saul never, ever figured out that God was the one who gave the crown to him. Saul feared the people thinking they were the ones that had chosen him king. Saul never returned to God. He died a miserable shell of a man. Do not let this happen to you, there is so much to life in Christ. It is not too late, you are not too far gone.