Your Failure Is Not Final

“Then Samson prayed to the Lord, ‘Sovereign Lord, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me just once more…’” Judges 16:28

Samson was powerful and mighty. But then, against his parent’s advice, he pursued a Philistine girl named Delilah. You probably know the story. She put him to sleep and cut the seven locks of hair. When she did this, she took the secret source of his power, and suddenly, Samson found himself in utter failure. This man who was once feared and respected was now helpless to his enemies. They plucked out his eyes. They took his vision. That’s what sin does. It will fascinate and then assassinate. It will steal your dream, take your vision, and destroy your life. That sinful thing that you play with will diminish the call of God. Samson lost his liberty, usefulness, reputation, purpose, and connection with God. The man who “no chain could bind” became bound with chains. His story looked like one of defeat.

One of the most heartbreaking parts of this story is when Samson’s enemies came to take him captive. Judges 16:20 says, “He awoke from his sleep and thought, ‘I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.’ But he did not know that the Lord had left him.” He had reached a point where he had crossed over into such bondage of sin that he couldn’t even feel the spirit of God with him anymore.

It seemed like Samson’s failure was final, but later, while he was grinding in the mill in prison, something amazing began to happen. His hair started to grow back, and his strength slowly returned. Even though the world had tossed him aside, God had not forgotten about him. He saw him there going in a circle, grinding his enemy’s grain day after day like an ox. Maybe you have failed God and those you love in a big way. You may think that you are a lost cause. But to God, you are still His child, and He knows that this failure isn’t your final destination. It may take a while, but little by little, God will mend the broken pieces. If you ask for His help, He will begin to restore what the enemy has taken from you.

One day the Philistines sent for Samson to be brought into a big party they were having because they wanted to make sport of him. It was Samson’s lowest moment. But something rose up in him, and he cried out to God, "God, do it one more time. Use me one more time. Anoint me one more time. Give me one more chance. Let me dream one more time. Let me rise up one more time. Let me fight a battle for you." God heard him and restored his strength, and the Bible said he killed more Philistines in his death than he did all the years combined before because failure is not final with our God. Never buy into the lie that you are messed up beyond repair. If you cry out to God in your failure, He will always be waiting to give you another chance because His mercies never end.

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