We have a ritual around bedtime in the Balvin household. Often at night before my three young children go to sleep I lie on the floor in their room and tell them stories from the Bible. It is my way of instilling in them a love for Jesus and the words he has given to us in Scripture. Recently the story I picked was the story of Samson.

You can read about Samson’s life in the Old Testament book of Judges. The long and short of the story is that Samson was a mighty man with great strength, but he was also a proud heart and a weakness for women. Gad had given Samson great gifts but Samson lacked the maturity and conviction to use those gifts for God’s glory. Instead he reveled in his own renown and exploited God’s gifts for his own personal gain.

In the end Samson fell for the wrong lady and he was tricked by her into revealing the secret of his great strength – his long, Fabio-like locks. Then one night as he drifted off to sleep with his head in the lap of his deceiver, she took out a razor, shaved Samson’s hair and handed the now weakened warrior into the bondage of his enemies.

We read in Judges 16 that when Samson was captured his eyes were gouged out leaving him blind. We also read that the Philistines would bring Samson out of his confinement from time to time and haul him before them for some fashion of entertaining. I wonder what this time was like for Samson. It must have been an extremely humiliating time for such a proud man; I imagine that not being able to see or to defend himself against such embarrassment could have driven Samson mad.

At first he was probably tempted to curse God for leaving him in such a state. I know I would have been tempted to renounce my faith, sitting alone in the blackness of a cell. But I don't think Samson chose to go the route of self pity and bitterness. In fact, one fateful day, after being drug out once again for the amusement of his likely inebriated captures, Samson bowed his head before God and asked for his strength to be renewed one last time so that he may bring down the rooftop on his enemies. That day God answered Samson’s prayer and his strength was renewed to do one last mighty work.

While I was telling my kids the story of Samson my mind came to rest on this verse, "But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved." (Judges 16:22) I didn't know at the time exactly what the verse said, but, knowing the end of the story, the thought occurred to me that there must have been some amount of time that passed between when Samson was captured by the Philistines and when he gave his live to destroy the house he was shackled in. What was Samson doing all that time?

The verse above tells the tale. Over time, time that must have seemed like an eternity for the warrior turned blind court jester, Samson's hair grew. But it was not only his hair that grew; it is possible that his heart for his God grew as well. It was during his confinement that Samson was able to take his eyes of himself and reflect on the One who had given him all that he had previously squandered on himself.

The chances are good that you have done something to dishonor God. The Bible says that everyone has turned from God and gone his own way at some point. Sometimes the choices we make have very serious consequences that leave us feeling blind, humiliated or shackled. Just like Samson we get our heads’ shaven and we lose all the strength we once supposed we possessed.

Not too long ago I was at that very point myself. Because of my own pride and selfishness I made choices that put me in a state of submission and weakness. God had to break me down before he could build me up and part of that breaking down was getting my head shaven, being made weak. Through it I learned that we see more clearly sometimes when we are blind, we get stronger when we are made weak. Likely you have been there; possibly you are there right now. And the good news is that because of Jesus’ death on the cross your hair will grow back just like Samson’s did, and just like Samson, you too can once again be used by God to do a mighty work for His name.

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