Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, so the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.2 A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was childless, unable to give birth. 3 The angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, “You are barren and childless, but you are going to become pregnant and give birth to a son.
Physical strength is always admirable among young men. Yet, it is said real strength lies in managing oneself. If that is true, Samson was one of the weakest men in the Bible. For though he was blessed with muscles he lacked one very important thing- self-control.
We do not need to experience the same problems to learn from them. I need to make decisions in my life to avoid some of the hurts and pains and problems in other people’s lives,
We can learn from Samson. But we begin from the time before his birth to understand God was working on a plan for his life. His story begins with the responsibility of his parents and their acceptance of God’s call in their lives. This week I want to center on the part parents play in a child’s life, as well as the limitations they have.
In this time when our nation has reversed the order of abortion on demand imposed by the federal government much animosity is expressed toward those in favor of life. According o Judges 13:5 “You will become pregnant and have a son whose head is never to be touched by a razor because the boy is to be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from the womb. He will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”
God prophesied Samson and what he would do while he was still in the womb. Whenever a woman gets pregnant do you not think God has a plan for that child? According to pastor Barry Johnson, One of the earliest documented uses of pro-life as a synonym for opposition to abortion was in a Chicago Tribune article, “Collegians who Campaign for the Unborn” (Sept 16, 1971) A student group at the University of Minnesota called Save Our Unwanted Life was opposed to both abortion and the Vietnam War. The term Pro-life was used to ask how can you be against the taking of life in war and support the taking of life by abortion? Surprisingly the term originally came from a liberal camp seeking to support life.
15 years later proponent of abortion adopted the term pro-choice because they did want to be characterized by their opponents as pro-death or anti-life. Now Abortion is not seen as a moral issue but a choice issue.
Samson’s mother is not named, only her husband. But what is significant is the Lord comes to the woman in the form of an angel and gives her the news, who in turn informs her husband. We find this story if God’s plan as He uses the parents in their important responsibility.
There is no such thing as an unplanned pregnancy as far as God is concerned. Each child is handcrafted by the Lord.
Psalm 1329:13-For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well….16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
Application: Seek Gods Word for truth about life. Don’t let the world squeeze you into its mold.
Prayer: Lord, empty me of my “self”, that I might see your truth in all of scripture. Protect those babies in the womb from the world’s wisdom.
