our choices and God’s involvement

Judges 14:1-9 (JDV)

Judges 14:1 Samson went down to Timnah and saw a young woman there among the daughters of the Philistines.
Judges 14:2 He went back and told his father and his mother: “I have seen a young woman in Timnah among the daughters of the Philistines. Get her for me as a wife.”
Judges 14:3 But his father and mother said to him, “Can’t you find a young woman among your relatives or among any of our people? Do you have to go to the uncircumcised Philistines for a wife?” But Samson told his father, “Get her for me. She looks right for me.”
Judges 14:4 Now his father and mother did not know this was from Yahveh, who wanted the Philistines to provide an opportunity for a confrontation. At that time, the Philistines were governing Israel.
Judges 14:5 Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother and came to the vineyards of Timnah. Notice a young lion came roaring at him,
Judges 14:6 the Breath of Yahveh came powerfully on him, and he tore the lion apart with his bare hands like he might have torn a young goat. But he did not tell his father or mother what he had done.
Judges 14:7 Then he went and spoke to the woman, because she looked right to Samson.
Judges 14:8 After some time, when he returned to marry her, he left the road to see the lion’s carcass, and notice a swarm of bees with honey in the carcass.
Judges 14:9 He scooped some honey into his grasp and ate it as he went along. When he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them and they ate it. But he did not tell them that he had scooped the honey from the lion’s carcass.

our choices and God’s involvement

Samson’s desire for this Philistine woman would not lead to “happy ever after” for him or her, but God was in his request. It would spark a confrontation — one of many.

Perhaps one lesson we can learn from this episode is that God is going to be involved in our lives, whether we (or those around us) are aware of how he is at work. We should not be too quick to discount our choices.

LORD, thank you for being intimately involved in our lives.