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Samson was a ruler judge of Israel for 20 years. He had everything going for him – supernatural strength, good looks, and God working in his life – yet he blew it. He wasted his life and brought all kinds of troubles on himself.

The story of Samson’s life is told in the book of Judges, chapters 13-16. But even though he lived hundreds of years ago, his story still exemplifies three of the most common ways we bring trouble on ourselves today. Because human nature is universal, we all tend to fall into the same traps. If we identify these traps, we can work out the problems we're in right now and avoid some problems in the future.

Let’s look at three things that got Samson into trouble that we can learn to avoid.

It’s dangerous to not learn from your mistakes
Samson had two big weaknesses in his life that he never learned to control. His first weakness was a bad temper. He frequently blew up. A primary motive for his actions was revenge. Samson killed 30 men to get their clothes because he burned with anger (Judges 14:12-19). He set a field afire just to get even (15:3-5). Samson said to a group of men he didn't like, "Since you've acted like this, I won't stop until I get my revenge on you" (v. 7). Later he said, "I did to them what they did to me" (v. 11), and then he killed another thousand men.

Samson's life seemed filled with anger, and he never quite got control of this problem. He refused to learn from his mistakes, so he just kept committing them over and over again.

The other area that Samson had a weakness in was uncontrolled physical desire. Though physically strong, he was morally weak. For him it was really kind of a game: "How close to the fire can I get and not get burned? How close to the edge of the cliff can I get and not fall off?" Samson deliberately ignored God's principles, particularly in the area of physical desires.

Samson played this kind of game with Delilah. When she repeatedly asked about the source of his strength, Samson teased her – but each time he did so, he got a little closer to the truth. By toying with her, he played with temptation – and ended up getting burned. We tend to do the same thing. We say, "Just this one time. What's one time going to hurt, anyway?" None of us plans to be a failure. Our lives don't fall apart in one day; the problem builds up gradually when we refuse to learn from our mistakes.

You may think, "But this is an area of my life I just have no control over. I'm defeated in it over and over again. It's a chronic area of failure in my life. That's just the way I am."

The good news is that God says, "I will give you the power to break out of that cycle of failure." When Samson finally turned to God, God broke his cycle of failure and gave him victory.

It’s dangerous to choose the wrong friends
Somebody wisely said, "If you want to soar with the eagles, you can't run with the turkeys." You will eventually become like the people you spend the most time with. That's why it is so important to choose your friends wisely. Samson was defeated by bad associations; he had unhealthy relationships even though God had chosen him for a special task.

Here's a challenging question: Do your friends keep you from living 100 percent for God? Do they tear you down or do they build you up? Do you find yourself having to conform to things you don't like to do? The Book of Proverbs warns us over and over again about negative associations. Constant exposure to wrong attitudes and wrong values will eventually take its toll in our lives for it's always easier to pull somebody down than it is to lift him up.

It’s dangerous to refuse to take God seriously
Samson was careless about his spiritual life. He lived for himself, and he let his own personal desires dictate his actions. Samson lived by the philosophy, "If it feels good, do it." Another thing we see in Samson's life is that he never prayed about anything, except before his final act, when he brought the house down. He did not ask God for direction. He just went ahead and did whatever he wanted to do. We would save ourselves so many problems and so much pain if we would just stop and ask God for direction before we jump into something with both feet and get all messed up.

Samson never really got serious about living for God until the very end of his life, after everything had finally fallen apart: He was captured by the enemy nation, they put his eyes out, and they made him grind grain at a mill, a job normally reserved for animals.

Notice what happened after everything fell apart: Samson finally prayed (16:28). I wonder what kind of history Samson would have had if he had prayed right from the beginning. Why did he have to wait until everything fell apart before he finally turned to God? The result of Samson's prayerlessness is that he totally lost his potential in life. He was discredited and lost his freedom; he became a slave to the people he had been sent to conquer.

This would be a hopelessly tragic story if it just ended there, but it doesn't. The Philistines had cut off Samson's hair, which was a sign of the covenant he had made with the Lord. Samson's hair was just an outward symbol; it was not the source of his strength but the sign of his strength. When they cut his hair off, they were saying, in effect, "Samson, we're changing on the outside what's already been cut off in your heart. You're not really serious about your commitment to the Lord."

But notice that "The hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved" (16:22). The process of renewal began. Samson repented and began to pray. As he began to look to God for strength, God honored his desire. God gave him his strength back, and Samson ended his life with an inspiring act of heroism.

According to the Bible, Samson was brought to the great temple of the false god Dagon so that thousands of his enemies could laugh and joke about him and also about Samson's God – the true God of Israel. Samson was placed between the two main pillars of the temple, and with every last ounce of strength that God gave him in answer to prayer, he pushed the columns aside and the roof of the huge building collapsed, killing everybody in the temple plus 3,000 people on the roof. God had sent Samson to conquer this enemy nation in the first place, and now God was able to accomplish more through Samson in his death than he did in his life. That's a sad statement on Samson's life, but he finally did defeat the enemy. Because God gave Samson a second chance, Samson had the greatest victory at the end of his life.

It’s encouraging to note that Samson is included in Hebrews 11, God’s Hall of Fame. Why? Because God can take a person who was a total failure in different areas of his life and still use him.

What should you do if you're a Samson? Exactly what Samson finally did: Turn your life over to the Lord. Give him all the pieces, and let him say to you, "I will give you the power to break loose out of those things that are tying you down and causing your hang-ups and preventing me from working in your life." Only God knows the greatness and potential in your life, but you'll never bring it out on your own; he must do it in his strength. Let him start today!

Increasingly, people in our world hunger for a return to a walk with the Lord and a deeper commitment to Him. The Bible presents three categories of commitment. A careful study of these categories reveals that most Christians today have compromised their faith and live a life based on a worldly view of success. Every Christian needs to be challenged to become what Bruce Wilkinson calls ‘first-chair Christians’. Learn more about this commitment and how to make it your own in the Walk Thru the Bible course “Experiencing Spiritual Breakthroughs”. Available in DVD. Contact Walk Thru the Bible at on 011-782-4222 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it to place your order.