The Samson Syndrome

When it comes to muscles, Americans believe bigger is better.

We like our athletes big and strong. Strength matters. On the sports fields and courts, strength and stamina win the day. Scrawny types just don’t cut it.

And when you’re the biggest and the strongest, your friends treat you like a god. That fact is not lost on athletes who are tempted to bulk up with illegal drugs that destroy their health.

But if your confidence is in your strength, it becomes your greatest weakness.

Now hold on just a minute! How can strength become a weakness?

Strength leads to pride. Eventually you run into someone bigger and stronger. And when your strength and your ability are your only resource, you’ve set yourself up to lose.

Have you ever heard of Samson? He was a national hero. He was the strongest man alive and proud of it. His story is in the Bible book of Judges, chapters 13-16. Read it sometime.

Samson was so strong he killed a lion with his bare hands. Bound with ropes, he snapped them like threads. Attacked by a thousand warriors, he destroyed them single-handed.

But one day, in a moment of weakness, he revealed the secret of his God-given strength. His enemies took advantage of his weakness and made him a slave.

You have the Sampson Syndrome when you depend on your strength alone and not on God. You forget that all that you have, your strength, your talents and your intellect—everything—is a gift from God. And when you do that, you’re setting yourself up for a fall.

“The bigger they are, the harder they fall.”

So is it wrong to be strong? Not at all. The problem is pride.

Pride makes us think we’re invincible. Pride is the seed we sow that leads to a harvest of self-destruction. That’s why God warns us against becoming proud.

If pride is the problem, humility before God is the solution. The Bible says, “Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you up.”

If a person humbles himself or herself, lets God use them and trusts in him, God’s power will make them strong. Look at Jesus.

Jesus was crucified in what appeared to be a moment of weakness. But God’s power brought a resurrection. And Jesus walked alive out of a solid rock tomb. How’s that for strength?

Maybe you face overwhelming odds in your life. Your health, your finances or your reputation have been crushed. You feel weak, defeated and humbled. Take heart.

When humility brings you to God and you put your faith in him through Jesus Christ his Son, it changes everything. Suddenly you are connected to the power of God. Your failures are forgiven. And you can say with the Apostle Paul, “When I am weak, then I am strong.”

Put your confidence in God. He can and will save you. He alone is able. Trust in him.

That attitude led the psalmist to write, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.” And it led the Apostle Paul to exclaim, “Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Samson learned this lesson the hard way. Tortured and humiliated by his enemies, he finally humbled himself and cried out to God. God restored his power and gave him victory.

Take a lesson from Samson and put your trust in the all-powerful God today.

Listen to the Bible; it’s great for your soul!