I believe every word of the Bible and hold to it as the absolute authority of truth in my life. That does not mean, however, that I have all the answers. The Bible is divinely-inspired and, as such, is a book that is infinite in its depth. I’m not. Intelligent, thinking people often disappear from churches and Bible studies where the preacher or teacher gives the impression that he or she knows it all and has all of God’s truth neatly tucked away in little plastic containers. Face it. There are some tough things to understand in the Bible — and in life.

Reading through Judges the past few days has reminded me of these hard questions. Today I was looking at Judges 14, part of Samson’s story. You probably remember that Samson is a pretty despicable character. From his youth he was rebellious and disrespectful toward his parents, friends and society in general. He was a hot head, a womanizer and a murderer. Definitely not Sunday school teacher material.

In spite of his nasty temperament, between Judges 13 and 15 it is said five times that the Spirit of God came upon Samson. In today’s reading I found Samson killing a lion and then 30 men in a fit of anger. Yet it says that he did this as the Spirit of the Lord came on him. How can we possible reconcile these two apparently contradictory aspects of Samson’s life?

If you don’t find this story troubling for a number of reasons, you probably need some sensitivity training – either that or just some basic honesty. I certainly don’t pretend to have all the answers as to what God is doing in and through this sad and messy story, but I do offer a couple of observations as I reflected on this today over a nice skinny latte.

• God can and does use whoever and whatever to do whatever and whenever he wants. After all, he is God. God used Baalam’s ass and even uses you and me. This is a place to speak of God’s providence and sovereignty. God has a plan and he will see it through. He will do this in ways that sometimes confuse and amaze us and at times using people that we find repulsive. It’s the message, not the messenger. If you are still wondering why in the world God would use someone as vile as Samson, it’s probably just because you weren’t available at the time.
• There is a major difference between God’s Spirit coming upon someone for a specific purpose and someone who is filled with or controlled by the Spirit. God wanted to accomplish some things in Samson’s day and chose him to do them regardless of his carnality and pride. One who is filled with the Spirit is one whose life is totally filled with God, is in complete submission to him and who gives evidence of a transformed life as characterized by the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).

There is no doubt that God can use me anytime and any way he wants. After all he has done for me, I don’t want to be just his blunt object. I want to be his sharp instrument to perform his soul surgery in the lives of those he loves. I want to be filled with the Spirit in every part of my life, not just one upon whom the Spirit falls for a moment in time.