Despite the indisputable fact that he was born of godly oldsters, put aside from his birth to be a Nazirite, and raised to the enviable position of judge in Israel, he never conquered his bias toward lust.

Many things that illustrate his lustful bent might be noted from the record of his life in the book of Judges. The 1st recorded words from his mouth were : I saw a lady ( 14:2 ). He was interested in the other sex precisely on the supposition of outward appearance : Get her for me, for she looks good to me ( 14:3 ). He judged Israel for twenty years, then went right back to his old practice of chasing women—a harlot in Gaza, and eventually Delilah ( 15:20-16:4 ). He became so preoccupied with his lustful wishes, he did not even know the Lord had departed from him ( 16:20 ). The outcome of Samson’s unlawful affairs are familiar to each one of us. The robust man of Dan was taken captive and turned into a slave in the enemy’s camp, his eyes were gouged out of his head, and he was allocated to be the grinder in a Philistine jail. The swarthy pride of Israel, who once held the highest office in the land, was now the bald clown of Philistia, a pathetic hollow shell of humanity. His life, once crammed with guarantee and grace, was now a picture of hopeless, defenseless despair.

The scented memories of erotic pleasure in Timnah, Gaza, and the legendary valley of Sorek were now crushed by the putrescent stink of a Philistine dungeon. Without realizing it, Solomon wrote another epitaph—this one for Samson’s tombstone:. His very own iniquities will capture the wicked,. And he’ll be held with the cords of his sin. And in the greatness of his folly he’s going to go astray. The same words could well be chiseled in the marble over plenty of other crypts. I suspect, for instance, of the silver-throated orator of Rome, Mark Antony. In his early manhood, he was so consumed with lust that his mentor once roared in disgust:.

In a position to conquer the world but unable to withstand an enticement. I think of the man I met many years ago—a fine itinerant Bible teacher.

He claimed he’d been keeping a private list of men who were once excellent expositors of the Scripture, able and respected men of The Lord God. Who have castaway their religion on the shoals of moral defilement. In the previous week, he announced, he had entered the name ofnumber 42 in his book. This downcast, sordid statistic, he claims, made him be additional wary and discreet in his very own life. Maybe , by this point, he has added a pair dozen more.

A chill ran down my backbone when he told that story. Whether by savage attack or sophisticated recommendation, the minds of a good range of folks are vulnerable to its attack.

Its appealing voice can infiltrate the most intellectual mind and cause its victim to believe its lies and reply to its appeal. Bolt your front door and it will rattle at the window, crawl into the sitting room thru the Television screen, or wink at you out of a mag in the den. How does one handle such an assertive intruder? Try this : when lust advises a rendezvous, send Jesus Christ as your representative. Have Him inform your unneeded suitor that you would like zilch to do with unlawful wish. Have your Lord remind lust that since you and Christ have been united together, you are now not in thrall to sin. ( Read Romans six. ) his expiration and resurrection freed you from sin’s stranglehold and gave you a new Master. And that new Master isn’t frightened to slam the door in lust’s face, irrespective of how far it has slinked in.

Could it be that you are starting to feel the nick of falling rocks? Perhaps the landslide has fallen and you are more than a little desperate. Job is our model for staying faithful when life is reduced to rubble. He sincerely believed the Lord who gave had every right to take away ( Job 1:21 ). “Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?” ( Job 2:10 ). He looked up, saying his Lord’s right to rule over his life. Who is the fool that claims God has no right to add sand to our clay or marks to our vessel or fire to His workmanship? Who dares lift his clay fist heavenward and question the Potter’s plan? Not Job. To him, God’s sovereignty was tainted with His love. Second, he counted on the guarantee of resurrection. He looked forward, relying on his Lord’s guarantee to make all things bright and attractive in the life beyond.

He knew that at that time, all agony, death, sorrow, tears, and adversity would be removed. Understanding that “hope doesn’t disappoint” ( Romans fifty five ), he endured today by envisioning tomorrow. 3rd , he admitted his very own shortage of understanding. Job failed to feel responsible to provide an explanation for the “whys” of his situation. And that no point of Yours can be frustrated.

So I have announced that which I didn’t understand,. Things too glorious [too deep] for me, which I didn’t know. I’m going to ask You, and You indoctrinate me.” ( Job 42:2-4 ). He looked inside, admitting his disability to put it all together. Resting his case with the righteous Judge, Job didn’t feel forced to offer answers to all the questions or unravel all of the burning riddles. For you, trouble may appear ten thousand miles away.

That is the way Job felt only a few minutes before the landslide.

Review these thoughts as you turn out the lights tonight, my friend, in case.

Consider Job’s methodology for picking up the pieces. Cloudless days are fine, but don’t forget : some pottery gets pretty frail setting in the sun day after day after day.

He could describe intense inner suffering in the 1st person due to his very own ocean of discomfort. Step into the time tunnel with me and let’s travel together back to Uz ( not like the magician of ___, but like the land of __ ). This place called Uz had a voter who had the status of everybody, as he was blameless, upright, God-fearing, and clean-living. He had ten youngsters, fields of stock, a sufficiency of land, a houseful of servants, and an important pile of money.

nobody would reject the man called Job was “the best of all of the men of the east” ( Job thirteen ). He had earned that title thru years of tough work and truthful dealings with others. Then, without statement, difficulty thundered on him like a landslide of great, jagged rocks. He lost his cattle, crops, land, servants, and—can you think it?—all ten kids. Shortly afterward he lost his healthiness his last human hope of getting by.

I plead with you to stop reading, shut your eyes for 1 minute, and identify with that good man—crushed underneath the weight of difficulty.

The book that bears his name records an entry he made into his book shortly afterwards the rocks stopped falling and the dust started to settle. With a trembling hand, the person from Uz wrote:. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Sanctified be the name of the LORD.” ( Job 1:21 ). Through all this Job didn’t sin nor did he blame God.

How could any one handle such a sequence of grief-laden ordeals so calmly? Think about the result : bankruptcy, discomfort, ten fresh graves. Yet we read that he worshiped God, he didn’t sin, nor did he blame his Maker.

Well, why failed to he? How could he ward off the antagonism or ignore thoughts of suicide? At risk of oversimplifying the situation, I recommend 3 basic answers : Job claimed God’s loving sovereignty ; he counted on the guarantee of resurrection ; and he confessed his very own lack of understanding. We’ll take a better look at every of these tomorrow.

We are in trouble circumstances are outside our control, and we see no relief for the future. He gives us what we needHis love and strength, a feeling of security, and the understanding that we aren’t alone. Our Lord understands what it is like to suffer, to be declined, or to lose a family member.

The God who walks with us isn’t restrained by anything, so we needn’t be terrified.

God has a purpose for permitting hard times.The story of Joseph obviously illustrates this truth. Joseph couldn’t see God’s purposeand neither will we almost all of the timebut he knew God’s personality and trusted Him thru his many trials. His religion was rewarded when he was able to save his folks.

God will never leave you nor forsake you ( Hebrews 13:5 ) and His good purposes will be carried out.