Judges 13.9 9 And God listened to the voice of Manoah,
and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field. But
Manoah her husband was not with her. (ESV)
The Book of Judges ought to clue us in on just how much
God intervenes in our lives when we don’t ask or expect Him to. There is so
much fuss these days about freewill
and free agency it seems the popular thought is: freewill is to God what kryptonite was to Superman; that God will only
go so far in our lives. Only those who don’t know God think this way.
And so, in Judges 13-16 we have the account of Samson.
God intervened in the lives of the Israelis through Samson’s parents when
Israel was being afflicted by the Philistines, and God had had enough of Israel’s
weaniness and whininess. Whether they realized it or not God stood by His
promises to them and called them His people.
We have to factor in God probably wasn’t pleased with the
way things were going in Israel, and in His sovereignty He chose to take things
in another direction. God can do that. God can take our lives any direction He
chooses; He doesn’t need our input, or permission. He sees and knows what is
best and sometimes takes us there…despite our kicking and screaming.
Samson’s parents weren’t overly religious but they did pray and God heard their prayer. Samson’s father wasn’t sure what God was up to
but he prayed and God answered. Sometimes it just takes the intervention of God
to remind us that we are where we are for a reason (or a season) and God is
completely in control; and we need to believe and trust Him. So Manoah, Samson’s
dad, prayed and asked God: “O Lord,
please let the man of God whom you sent come again to us and teach us what we
are to do with the child who will be born.” (v. 8) The rest of the story plays
out from there.
This Easter Sunday, we were driving home from Eastern
Idaho and before we left we asked God to protect us as we drove and to remove
obstacles from our path. Two minutes into the trip down Interstate 15 a guy
lost control of his rig and dumped a trailer load of hay right in front of us
and wound up facing northbound in the southbound lane. With several other
drivers we all stopped and helped clean up the mess and got back on the road in
less than 10 minutes.
Last night at a friend’s house we learned his wife had
misplaced her purse. As we left we asked God to help her find it and within the
hour came the report via Facebook: her purse turned up. God heard our prayer.
It doesn't matter what is happening in our lives – hay-bales or handbags – God hears
and God cares. And God intervenes sometimes when we can’t (or won’t.)
The history of Israel in the Old Testament is a testament
to me of God’s gracious intervention into our lives and to His awesome
responses to even the simplest prayers offered in faith. Our land needs God’s
intervention and I suspect He is intervening in ways that if we realized it, we’d
be astounded by what He’s doing without our knowing or asking.
Father, thank You for Your intervention in Samson’s
parent’s lives and that You are the God who intervenes on behalf of His
children. May we, Your kids, celebrate Your presence and providence when things
seem impossible or unpredictable. Amen!
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