New Life
Judges 12: 2 – 5
A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was childless, unable to give birth. 3 The angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, “You are barren and childless, but you are going to become pregnant and give birth to a son. 4 Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean. 5 You will become pregnant and have a son whose head is never to be touched by a razor because the boy is to be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from the womb. He will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.
Not for the first time nor indeed the last, the Israelites were in trouble, and had been for some time. They had for no less than 40 years been under Philistine rule and wanted their independence back. No doubt they thought deliverance would come via a great leader.
But that was not what God had in mind. His plan was for a long slow restoration, to be started with the birth of a special baby whose name was to be Samson. The translation above is from NIV but the Good News version gives a more traditional translation of Vs5 as “He will begin the work of rescuing Israel…”
Samson was not destined to be the deliverer but only the instigator of the struggle. It has oft been said that God’s time is not our time – he works to a different timescale to ours. A friend was fond of saying ‘It sometimes seems God is taking a long time but he is never late!’ Very true.
We humans want results now, if not sooner, but God who sees the whole picture knows when the time is right.
At this time when we demand deliverance, God hears our prayers, but will act when it is in accordance with His will, which is always to what is best for us.
Patience may be a virtue humans often have to work at, but it is well worth the effort at the end of the day.
Prayer
Lord God, our loving Father in Heaven, help us to trust you, to know that you love us and watch over us, and that all will be well but in your time not ours.
In your Mercy hear our prayer,
Amen