Oh Samson...

     When I received my In Touch Magazine for the month of January last week I skimmed through it to see what sort of articles I had to look forward to. At the end of every magazine is a daily devotion based on a biblical passage. I quickly read the titles to see if any of them sparked an interest -- I believe that if something pops out at me, it does so for a reason; God is speaking to me. 

     The devotion for January 19th caught my eye: Uncontrolled Weakness. The biblical passage is Judges 16:1-24, which tells the story of Samson. I think this is one of the better known stories of the Hebrew Bible. Samson was incredibly strong; it says he could kill a lion with his bare hands. No one could compare to Samson in strength. Unfortunately, his weakness was desire or lust. Despite his religious upbringing, he went to a prostitute and later a woman named Delilah, who's motives were all too clear. Samson's enemy, the Philistines, persuaded Delilah to seduce him and discover what made him so strong. Oblivious, Samson fell completely for Delilah, blind to her true intentions. Finally he revealed to her it was his uncut hair that gave him strength. While he slept, Delilah cut it all off and called for the Philistines. Helpless, Samson could do nothing while they gouged out his eyes and then chained him between two pillars. He prayed to God to give him back his strength one last time. Then he pulled the pillars down on himself and the Philistines killing everyone, himself included.

     Our weaknesses can do one of two things: bring us closer to God or bring us to our destruction. When I was traveling with hubby throughout Ontario for his job I was depressed. I wasn't in school anymore, I didn't have a job, I was away from my family and I stayed in a hotel room all day while my husband was at work. I felt worthless and lost. Eventually I sought God in my weakness. I found a women's faith group at the local university. I found a daily devotional that I really enjoyed. I tried going to each hotel's gym for some exercise each day. I worked toward a ministry diploma by correspondence. My husband and I took advantage of our travels and visited family and tourist attractions like Niagara Falls. The entire experience could have been completely negative; I could have slipped into a deep depression. Instead, my relationship with God changed beyond my wildest expectations. He became my friend, my confidante, my everything. Our relationship was never the same.

     My weakness now is food. I've blogged about this before. I love to eat. I don't like to exercise. I succumb easily to fast food and junk food. One day I was reading Paul's letter to the Philippians and he writes, Their end is their destruction; their god is their belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things (Phil. 3:19). I know Paul wasn't just writing about eating when he wrote "their god is their belly"; he was talking about all the appetites: lust, greed, anger, pride... But it spoke to me very personally about my eating habits. Whenever you put something before God, that thing becomes an idol. It could be TV, email, shopping, and even "good" things like going to the gym. Has food become my idol? If I keep on this track of poor eating habits I could suffer from high blood pressure, diabetes, heart attacks... My end is my destruction...literally. But it's not just health issues. Instead of ignoring the issue or even trying to fix it myself, it should be forcing me to my knees in prayer and supplication before God. I have needed God through many trials so why should this be any different? Why should this weakness be resolved through my own powers? I am then saying that I don't need God, that I can do this on my own. I need God in everything.

     There are programs from drug addicts and alcoholics because they're considered diseases, but what about eating? Studies have shown that there are addictive chemicals in junk food. So why is overeating a matter of pure will power but the others aren't? I wish there was some daily devotional devoted to dealing with food and overeating. Maybe I'll be the one to create such a thing!