In Part 1, we saw that Samson had a clear purpose. But a purpose is only as good as your willingness to follow it. The second step in wasting your calling is simple: stop walking by faith and start walking by sight.
Judges 14 shows us a man who stopped asking “What does God say?” and started asking “What do I want?” Samson began to let his eyes outvote his calling, and once you start following your eyes, you will always end up in the wrong territory.
I. Choose Sight Over Counsel
Judges 14:1–3 “…I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife. Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren… but thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.”
Samson didn’t care about God’s law or his parents’ warning. He saw something he liked, and he demanded it. His only justification was, “she pleaseth me well.”
2 Corinthians 5:7 “(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)”
When you make decisions based on what “pleases” you in the moment rather than what God has spoken, you are setting yourself up for a fall. Faith looks at the Word; flesh looks at the world.
II. Become a Warning, Not an Example
Judges 14:4 “But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines…”
God was going to use Samson’s mess to get a result, but that didn’t mean God approved of Samson’s choices. God can use a rebellion to fulfill a purpose, but you don’t want to be the rebel.
1 Corinthians 10:11 “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition…”
You can be an example of God’s grace, or you can be a warning of God’s judgment. Samson started down a path where his life became a lesson in what not to do.
III. Keep Secrets from Those Who Care
Judges 14:5–6 “…and, behold, a young lion roared against him. And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid… but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.”
Samson killed a lion by the power of God, but he kept it a secret. Why? Because the lion was in a vineyard, a place a Nazarite wasn’t supposed to be.
John 3:20 “For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.”
When you start keeping secrets from the people who love you and hold you accountable, it’s because you know you’re somewhere you shouldn’t be. Darkness always grows in the shade of a secret.
IV. Follow Pleasure
Judges 14:7 “And he went down, and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well.”
Samson was “going down” geographically and spiritually. He was chasing a feeling.
Romans 8:5 “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.”
If your first motivation is pleasure, you will eventually walk away from your purpose. You cannot mind the things of the flesh and keep the power of the Spirit.
V. Disobey the Bible Directly
Judges 14:9 “And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcase of the lion.”
As a Jew, Samson was forbidden from touching dead bodies of certain animals. Leviticus 11:27 “And whatsoever goeth upon his paws, among all manner of beasts that go on all four, those are unclean unto you: whoso toucheth their carcase shall be unclean until the even.”
But he saw honey, he wanted it, and he touched the carcass to get it. He valued a snack more than his vow.
James 1:22 “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”
When you start making “small” compromises to God’s Word because you want something, you are deceiving yourself. Direct disobedience is the fastest way to drain the power of God from your life.
VI. Make Light of Sin
Judges 14:10–12 Samson threw a big feast (the word used often implies a drinking party) and started telling riddles. He was treating his life like a game.
Proverbs 14:9 “Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favour.”
Samson was flirting with the enemy and making jokes about his compromise with is vow and the Bible. When you stop taking your sin seriously and start making light of your “struggles,” you’ve already lost the battle.
VII. Use God’s Power for Personal Gain (and forget why you have the gift in the first place)
Judges 14:19 “And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave change of garments unto them which expounded the riddle…”
Samson used the anointing of God to pay off a gambling debt. He used a holy gift to solve a problem caused by his own foolishness.
Galatians 5:13 “…only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.”
God’s power is given for His purposes, not to bail you out of the messes you make while ignoring Him. Using God’s gifts for your own ego or your own gain is a dangerous misuse of the calling.
VIII. Ignore Warning Signs from God
Judges 14:20 “But Samson’s wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend.”
Everything Samson tried to build in Timnath fell apart. His riddle backfired, his wife was taken, and he ended up in a cycle of revenge. These were giant red flags from God to get out, but Samson didn’t listen.
Proverbs 29:1 “He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.”
God will give you warning signs when you are off track. If you harden your neck and keep going, the collapse will be sudden.
When sight replaced faith, Samson stopped looking at God’s plan and started looking at his own desires.
Following sight leads away from God’s direction because our eyes can lie to us. If you let your eyes lead your life, they will always lead you right out of your calling.
