God Who Works Wonders

The account of Samson: such a fascinating, complex narrative. God is at work doing surprising things: using people that we would never use to get our work done, letting His purposes reach His people via the winding trails of their own sins and failings. And although He does judge those sins and expose those weaknesses, as we read the Biblical account, we find that His people are never at the mercy of their weaknesses. He is always quietly in control, accomplishing His work with daunting precision and giving grace in unexpected, generous ways. He rescues His people again and again in ways that we never saw coming.

Here are two notes on the first part of the life of Samson:

1) The first is a simple meditation on a name of God that appears in the narrative.

Following the second announcement of the angel of the LORD (Judg. 13), Manoah offers a sacrifice to “Yahweh who works wonders.”

Take that in. Turn it over in your heart and mind. Ask yourself: What is your impossible request right now? What situations sit on your heart like a 160 lb. weight? Where does the hurt cut so deep the healing seems beyond reach? Friend, He is the One who works wonders. He can do anything. Take this truth about Him: admire it, treasure it, feed on it. “Yahweh, the One who works wonders.”

2) The second note offers an example of the LORD working a wonder in Samson’s life.

Judges 15 – And Samson was very thirsty, and he called upon the LORD and said, “You have granted this great salvation by the hand of Your servant (he had just killed 1000 of Israel’s enemies), and shall I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” And God split open the hollow place that is at Lehi, and water came out from it. And when he drank, his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore the name of it was called En-hakkore (“the spring of the one who called”); it is at Lehi to this day.

Amazing, isn't it? Just like that – because one of his thirsty children cried to Him – “God split open the hollow place” and made a new stream that flowed for years to come. 

Reading this account reminded me of the passage in Isaiah where, hundreds of years later, God promises to provide water for His people in their time of need.

Isaiah 41 – When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the LORD will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.

No idle words, this promise. God has already shown His ability to do this on behalf of one of His own. So take heart, believer. God is the kind of God who intervenes in His children’s lives.

In pondering the Samson account in conjunction with the Isaiah passage, I found two things particularly encouraging:

* God did this miracle for Samson (a struggle-laden judge, at best: God's care is not dependent on our performance!).

* He did it in answer to Samson’s request (you don’t have because you don’t ask).

This God is our God. He is the One who works wonders. We are the ones who call out. In what ways do we sell God short? What things do we not even ask for because it’s not on our radar screen, because we don’t even think about the fact that if we asked, God might actually do something for us? He’s the kind of God who responds to the needs of His people.

So…ask.

Just ask.

Ask this God who works wonders.