by: Carole L. Haines
17 When he had finished speaking, he threw the jawbone from his hand; and he named that place Ramath-lehi. 18 Then he became very thirsty, and he called to the Lord and said, “You have handed this great victory over to Your servant, and now am I to die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” 19 But God split the hollow place that is in Lehi so that water came out of it. When he drank, his strength returned and he revived. Therefore he named it En-hakkore, which is in Lehi to this day. 20 So he judged Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines.
Samson is certainly not one of the most admirable of characters in the Bible. He was a very flawed soul.
I am quite the imperfect soul myself. So I’ll just say it, “I’m really depressed!” I have struggled with depression and anxiety for the majority of my life. People have often asked me about my knowledge of the Word of God. Well, that’s the answer…depression…anxiety. I have had to run to God’s Word and find my peace, find my release. I have run to God’s Word and soaked it’s pages with my tears. I have prayed for release, but God has chosen to let me struggle, as He did with the Apostle Paul.
“Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. 9 And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”(2 Corinthians 12:8-10)
And so, like Paul, I am learning to be well content with my struggles. I’d rather wake up happy all the time, but it’s just not like that for me. Yes, I am on Meds to take the edge off, but I am also thankful for that which drives me to the Word of God; my struggles with anxiety and depression.
I just loved the verse I found in Judges 15 this morning.
19 But God split the hollow place that is in Lehi so that water came out of it. When he drank, his strength returned and he revived. Therefore he named it En-hakkore, which is in Lehi to this day.”
This has been the story of my life. Countless times, God has “split the hollow place” of my depression or anxiety with His Mighty Word and water has gushed out, Living water, Giving Water. And when I have filled my thirsty soul with the Living Water of His Word, my strength has returned and I am revived. Notice the Hebrew Word En-hakkore, from the passage? It means, “the spring of him who called.”
We must call upon Him from our thirsty places, our weak places, our weary places. Dear beloved brothers and sisters, God does not always choose to deliver us from our struggles, hardships or trials. But He will deliver us in them. He will come alongside us and walk with us in them, refreshing us with His Word, strengthening us with His power.
And we can all learn to be even as Paul declares.
Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”
And so I am, weak, frail, and weary…But God is so strong in me, that even in my pain, even in my lost-ness, even in my weary state…I can rejoice in His strength, His power, His glory.
Amen and Amen
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