What we can learn from Sampson’s parents.

I’m so thankful for the Bible. I’m glad that it doesn’t hide anything from us and helps guide us both into what to do as well as what not to do. One example of this is found in Judges 13, the story of Sampson. While there is so much to learn from Sampson himself, I want to take a look at Sampson’s parents.

The Bible tells us that Manoah and his wife were unable to conceive and they longed for a baby. An angel appeared to Manoah’s wife one day and told her that not only were they going to have a baby but that their son would be set apart for God and would rescue Israel from the Philistines! The angel gave her some specific directions on how she and her son were required to live in order to honor the Nazarite oath.

Manoah and his wife so desperately wanted a child that they were willing to do anything that the angel told them to do. They followed the directions to the letter. They were well aware of how to physically set Sampson apart for God but I don’t think they understood their responsibility as his parents to also teach him how to set himself apart spiritually.

It’s completely understandable though because they were a part of a generation that was considered evil in God’s eyes so they may not have had any examples set before them on how they should raise their son. I believe they were doing the very best they could in how they raised Sampson and we all know that even though they didn’t really know what they were doing, God did and he chose them as Sampson’s parents.

I think that Sampson’s parents were probably older than typical parents of that time and since they didn’t ever think they would have a son they wanted to make the most of the gift they had been given. Because of that they probably prioritized Sampson’s happiness over the call that God had put on his life. Again, not on purpose but because all parents want their kids to be happy in life. Although there isn’t anything wrong with our kids being happy it’s really important that we don’t make happiness a priority over raising them to be who God created them to be.

Because of Sampson’s parents’ mistakes, Sampson learn how to work the system to get what he wanted even if it wasn’t good for him. He wasted the gifts and strength that God had given him on practical jokes and revenge when things didn’t go his way. Eventually, he even gave up his own oath to God entirely for his own human pleasure that he found in a Philistine woman.

This is why I’m so thankful for the Bible, we can do better with our kids because now we know better. We can help our kids to live out all that God has called them to do and help them to leave a legacy that others want to follow by learning from a few mistakes that Manoah and his wife made. We can help our kids know how to honor their own oaths to God by teaching them to…

  • Use their gifts and abilities from God with wisdom and responsibility
  • To not give in to short term pleasures or happiness over the joy and honor that comes from fulfilling the call of God on their lives
  • Control their own will in favor of God’s will for them
  • To not confide in the wrong people and better yet to surround themselves with the right spouces, friends and influencers

It’s such a great honor from God to be a parent and I want to do the best I can to help my kids become exactly who God has made them to be. I know you do too!

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I’m not raising my kids to be good adults.

I’m hosting a family grow group at my church tonight on mistakes that parents can avoid so in honor of that I am going to share a little bit of my perspective on raising my own kids.

I think a general accepted goal of most parents is to raise kids that turn out to be good adults but that’s not my goal at all. I want to raise kids that are ready to stand before God. The thing is none of us know what tomorrow will bring for our kids here on earth but no matter what I know that someday they will defiantly be standing before God. I know that they will be held accountable for their life no matter how long or short it may be. I want them to be ready for that day at any age.

I do want them to do well in school, I want them to work hard and learn a lot, but not so that they will get into a great university or get a good job when they are older but instead so that they will be prepared and equipped for the things that God calls them to do. I don’t want them to be thinking, I’ll do the things God has for me some day when I grow up, but instead I want them to be prepared for what God has for each of them right now and for all the days to come. I believe that their lives have an impact on the world around them no matter how old they are. It’s important that they are aware and ready to be used by God at any age.

I also want my kids to learn how to make friends and learn how to get along with with difficult people. Not just because it will help them to succeed in their careers but because people matter to God (even the difficult ones). I want people to matter to my kids too.

I’m not preparing my kids to be good adults (although they will be) and I’m not preparing them to be world changers (although they will be that too). I’m preparing my kids to stand before God one day so that they will be able to hear him say to them well done, good and faithful servant.

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A Good Plan

I don’t know about you but often things don’t really go the way I planned for them to go. Sometimes it’s important to fight for things in your life to turn around but sometimes we have to just let things play out. It’s important to be able to determine which is which so we can stay in the middle of God’s plans for our lives.

I want to encourage you that even if things are not going the way you planned, and it’s one of those times you need to just let things play out you’re not alone. One of the devils greatest tricks is to make us feel isolated and alone but that’s never the case. Someone else has always been or is going through something similar to what you are experiencing right now.

Don’t let a change of plans take you off course. Instead use it as an opportunity to evaluate the direction that you really need to be going. I’ve found that when I feel like things are not going at all the way I had planned it’s often because of 1 of 2 things.

(1) It’s just a seed planting season not a growth season. When things aren’t going the way I expected it’s sometimes because the situation isn’t ready for the change I want to see happen. When this is the case instead of allowing a sense of defeat to take over I adjust my perspective to see that the change of growth I so long for will eventually happen but maybe at a different time. For now I have to focus on planting the right seeds in the right places so that things will be able to grow when the time is right.

(2) The short term plans that I had for myself would actually take me off course from my long term goals. It’s not always easy to know exactly how to pave a direct path into the future you want for yourself. We just don’t have the perspective that God has to get us to the right places at the right times. When I realize that my plans might not be the best way into my future it’s a lot easier to just let things play out and focus on figuring the next best step instead of fighting for something that will never get me to where I want to go.

In Jeremiah 29 the prophet Jeremiah sent a letter to the surviving exiles in Babylon. I think it’s safe to say that being and exile was not at all what these people had planned for their lives! The letter was to tell them what God was saying for them. In verse 11 it says For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

That is so encouraging to me and I hope it’s encouraging to you too. No matter what things look like for each of us today, even when things don’t look at all the way we had planned, we can always rest in the assurance that God has good plans for our future and we can trust him to get us to the exact right places at the exact right time.

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Be ready with what you have been given!

When we read about the birth of Jesus the focus is usually on Mary & Joseph, the shepherds, the wise men, King Herod, and of course Jesus. I want to for just a minute focus on someone that is probably overlooked, the person that offered his barn (or cave) for Mary and Joseph to sleep in that night.

In Luke 2:7 there is hardly even a mention other than Mary wrapped baby Jesus in snugly strips of cloth and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the village inn. Think about it though whoever offered them that humble place to sleep that night was giving what they had and it was impacting the world.

When he offered to let them sleep in that barn he had no idea that his small act would play such a major part in saving ALL of mankind. He had no idea that when he offered what he had to help that man and his pregnant wife he was impacting every nation and every single person throughout time.

My take away is simple:

  • Take care of what you have because you never know who you may be asked to entertain there.
  • Be willing to give what you have because you never know who you are giving it to.
  • Listen for promptings & then follow through because you never know how big of a story those subtle promptings are playing into.

Be ready with what you have been given!

Hebrews 13:2 –  Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!

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