Thanking God even in your mistakes

We are wrapping up our series this morning Season of Thanks. Being grateful everyday.

During the time of Thanksgiving, a lot of people will do a gratitude challenge. This three-week series examines Scripture to see what gratitude might look like if it was practiced every day, and if we found reasons to be grateful even for the hard things in life.

Week 1- We say how we can be grateful in the breathe of life. God breath into us and gave us life. Every time you breath you can say thank you God. This breath is a gift he gave us.

Last week- Last week we look at is your gratitude focused on you or is it focused on God? You see even when we are going through tuff time we can thank God for those around us.

Has we close out this series this morning. We will be look at a man in the old testament that sinned and went against what God wanted him to do but God was still able to use him.

So, if you have your bible’s go head and turn to Judges 14:3; 16:4–31. If you do not have your bibles this morning that ok. You can follow along on the screen in a few minutes.

Before will look at today passage and this person. I have a question for you.

Have you ever made a big mistake?

My guess is you have. We have all been there. We have all done thing in our life that we regret. With all the mistakes regret that we have. Can we still be used by God. Can God turn this mistakes into a positive? OR will we never be able to used again.

You see this morning we will be look at the life of a man named Samson in the book of Judges.

Judges in itself is not a pretty book. In fact, many look at the book as one of the darkest books of the the Bible. These book tells the story of Israel has they lost its way. They started follow the culture of the day and the society around them instead of God. God had commanded them to fully sever themselves for it. Which did not happen. Throughout the book, there is a cycle of God raising up a judge who will free Israel from their oppression, only to then die and see Israel once again turn away from God.

One representative person in the book is Samson. A little back story on Samson. Samson was born as a Nazirite to God. A man or woman who has taken the Nazirite vow, which is distinguished by abstinence from certain actions. This vow gave Samson the superhuman strength.

Judges 14:1–3 CSB

1 Samson went down to Timnah and saw a young Philistine woman there. 2 He went back and told his father and his mother, “I have seen a young Philistine woman in Timnah. Now get her for me as a wife.” 3 But his father and mother said to him, “Can’t you find a young woman among your relatives or among any of our people? Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines for a wife?” But Samson told his father, “Get her for me. She’s the right one for me.”

Samson falls in love

Samson falls in love with a Philistine girl. This is a bad thing to fall in love but it who he fell in love with. You see this Philistine girl was part of a group of people that hated the Israelites. All thought-out the old testament we see this group atacting.

His father objects because she is not of the nation of Israel, but Samson insists on marrying her (Judges 14:1–3). What his father doesn’t realize is that God is even going to take Samson’s poor choices and obsessions and turn them to his own purposes.‌

Samson is not a model for a Sunday school class

He makes big mistakes and sins against God (14:8–9). We can learn a lot for Samson. God still used him despite of all the sin that was in his life. The story of Samson can bring us hope that when we feel shamed of our failure. God can still use us.

Judges 16:4–6 CSB

4 Some time later, he fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in the Sorek Valley. 5 The Philistine leaders went to her and said, “Persuade him to tell you where his great strength comes from, so we can overpower him, tie him up, and make him helpless. Each of us will then give you 1,100 pieces of silver.” 6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me, where does your great strength come from? How could someone tie you up and make you helpless?”

Samson falls for Delilah

Samson falls in love with another Philistine woman, Delilah.

What is unclear in this story is if the leader of the Philistines paid Delilah to seduce Samson to find out were his superhuman strength came from.

Delilah asked Samson three different time that we know about were his strength came from. Three time Samson lied to her. He refused to tell her the source till. Finally, he tells her the truth: it’s his hair

Judges 16:15–17 CSB

15 “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ ” she told him, “when your heart is not with me? This is the third time you have mocked me and not told me what makes your strength so great!” 16 Because she nagged him day after day and pleaded with him until she wore him out, 17 he told her the whole truth and said to her, “My hair has never been cut, because I am a Nazirite to God from birth. If I am shaved, my strength will leave me, and I will become weak and be like any other man.”

Samson is captured

Delilah shaves his head. Which allows him to become just like ever other man. The Philistines come and seize him gouging out his eyes. They take him back to Gaza and forced into grinding grain. But in verse 22 we see something start to happen.

Judges 16:22 CSB

22 But his hair began to grow back after it had been shaved.

Samson finally battle

Samson did a lot of stuff wrong. He fall in love with a double agent and that wasn’t even the worst of it. He was walking blindly around in a circle day in and out. During a time of rejoicing, the lords of the Philistines have Samson displayed like a trophy (v. 25).

Imagine the shame, pain, and helplessness he must have felt while tied to a pillar in the presence of enemies he could not even see. All he could do was hear their mockery.

At that moment, blind and helpless, Samson called out to the Lord

Judges 16:28–30 CSB

28 He called out to the Lord, “Lord God, please remember me. Strengthen me, God, just once more. With one act of vengeance, let me pay back the Philistines for my two eyes.” 29 Samson took hold of the two middle pillars supporting the temple and leaned against them, one on his right hand and the other on his left. 30 Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” He pushed with all his might, and the temple fell on the leaders and all the people in it. And those he killed at his death were more than those he had killed in his life.

Samson did this to himself

Despite all the unwise choices Samson had made that had led him to this humiliating situation, his actions at that moment show us that each day is another opportunity to see clearly and put our faith into practice, wherever God calls us and however far we’ve fallen.

God can even take our sin and foolish mistakes and turn them to the purposes of his will

Confess the places where your sin or unwise choices have led you into bad situations; then with fresh faith, thank God that he can use even these things in the working out of his will.