Growing In the Dark

Judges 16:20-22
20 And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” 
So he awoke from his sleep, and said, “I will go out as 
before, at other times, and shake myself free!” But he 
did not know that the Lord had departed from him.

21 Then the Philistines took him and put out his eyes, 
and brought him down to Gaza. They bound him with bronze 
fetters, and he became a grinder in the prison. 22 However, 
the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been 
shaven.

I can only imagine what Sampson must have felt the moment he reached for his God - given strength only to come up empty.  I can only wonder how it felt to be subdued by someone he knew he was stronger than before.  Wow, the feeling of humiliation, the reality of failure - that probably stung the most.  On top of all that, he was put in irons, his sight was taken from him, and he became a slave to the very people he gained victory over, time and time again.

In the bottom of that prison, it was dark, dank, and lonely.  Sampson had no choice but to reflect on all of the terrible decisions that got him there in the first place!  I wonder if he reasoned within himself things like; 'Why in the world did I fall for this woman?' or 'How could I be so stupid to think that I was invincible?'  Ladies and gentlemen, Sampson was in a very dark place. Have you ever been there?

It's in times like these that we must make some critical decisions if we are to rise from the hell hole we've found ourselves in.  Rather than grope in the dark, whine and complain in he dark...our text says that his hair began to grow back...Sampson decided to grow in the dark!