Your weakness and your destiny

Most of us have heard the story of Samson and Delilah: the strongest man alive, who was brought down by a cunning woman. 

He was was strong no doubt, and  dreaded by the Philistines, Israel's enemies. Yet he had a weakness. He had a soft spot for women who cried. Especially those who wanted him to prove his love by revealing secrets. 

You would think he would have learnt after his wife repeatedly begged him to tell her the answer to the riddle he had earlier asked her countrymen. Sadly he didn’t address his weakness and later fell for the same tricks with Delilah. This time, it cost him his destiny.

Dealing with depression

In just one week, I have read four tragic suicide stories linked to depression. All the victims were responsible people who were valuable to their families and society. One was a pastor of a church, who was such a blessing to his members, and the other three were mothers, one of them a doctor.

What is this horrible disease? Depression can be defined in many ways, but it is generally described as feelings of intense sadness and misery.

The deception of women

It’s often said “educate a man, and you educate an individual, but educate a woman and you educate a nation.” The importance of women and girls cannot be emphasized enough. 

In the Bible, the nation of Israel was frequently warned not to marry women from the surrounding pagan nations. This was because of the power of influence women typically have. Failure to heed that advice often resulted in husbands and children being led astray. We see examples of that in the lives of King Solomon and King Ahab and their children, who were led astray by their foreign wives.

Have you ever wondered why women are often abused and treated as objects instead of as persons?

The ‘distraction’ of wealth

Speak to many Christians today and they will be quick to tell you how blessed they are

because of the financial or material blessings they have. Many Christians actually pay their tithes or do charitable works just for that reason alone.  But do you know that wealth or material blessings can be a distraction instead of a blessing?

The Bible tells us in Matthew 4:1-11, that Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness. One of those temptations was the offer of fame and wealth if Jesus would forfeit His purpose on earth and worship him (the devil) instead.

Why the Sheep got lost

It’s easy to blame the wayward sheep for getting lost. Many of us have said “serves you right” when someone ‘less holy’ got into trouble because of their sins. But does Jesus ever rejoice when that happens? Of course not! We see how He protected the Adulterous Woman who was going to be stoned to death as a consequence of her sin. I wonder why Jesus did not accuse her as harshly as the Pharisees. Why was He so forgiving?

‘Do-It-Yourself’ Christianity

Have you ever taken time to read the books of first and second Kings in the Bible? These books are basically a history of the different kings who ruled in Israel. But what I find rather interesting about them is the way Israel behaved under each king. 

If a king was good and obeyed God, then the people did the same, but if a king worshipped idols and committed all sorts of atrocities, the Israelites followed suit. These people could not decide to serve God for themselves, but used their leaders as their excuse. This however did not spare them from the consequences of their actions.

The enticement of destruction

The other day I was reading my Bible and stumbled across 2 Kings 17:1-23. That passage talks about the exile and unnecessary suffering the Kingdom of Israel experienced because of their constant disobedience to God. 

These people who were so privileged and hand-picked by God from all other nations of the earth forfeited the good plans and destiny God had marked for them because of their sins.

Their sins did not just include idolatry and getting entangled with pagan nations, they also committed the abominable act of human sacrifice of their own children to these idols.