He may be seeking an occasion

"Then Samson went down to Timnah and saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines. So he came back and told his father and mother, "I saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines; now therefore, get her for me as a wife."Then his father and his mother said to him, "Is there no woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?" But Samson said to his father, "Get her for me, for she looks good to me. However, his father and mother did not know that it was of the LORD, for He was seeking an occasion against the Philistines. Now at that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel." Judges 14:1 - 4

Samson, a declared Nazarite from birth, goes against the command of Deuteronomy 7:3 "You shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your sons." He sees this unnamed woman, and she 'looked good to him.' Samson's father and mother indirectly plead for him to not take a wife from the Philistines. Need they remind him who the Philistines are!? Yes - that would be one of their numero uno enemies The ones ruling over them!

Samson throws a feast in celebration of his father going to get this woman and decides to pose a riddle. If anyone was able to answer it, Samson would give thirty linen wraps and thirty changes of clothes (uhm....some really cool party favors! lol. Okay - totally kidding. Sorry). Four days pass, and the guests are stumped. They approach Samson's wife asking her to 'entice' her husband, that she may find out the answer to the riddle, and then let them know. Through her weeping (talk about the manipulation and influence of a woman), Samson eventually discloses it to her. She shares the answer to the guests.

Samson, realizing that they only knew the answer because they had asked his wife to entice him, kills 30 men. And that is just the beginning.

God take one small intermarriage and uses it to oppose His peoples' enemy. You will find that Samson's wife is later given to his good friend (They were clearly not thinking about the possible repercussions of that move.) As a result, Samson destroys the wheat fields of the Philistines. The Philistines, not so happy about their loss of grain, took revenge upon Samson by burning his wife and father-in-law's house down, with them inside.

Samson flees and encounters the men of Judah. The men of Judah, not wanting to get in trouble with their enemy who was ruling over them, return him back to the Philistine bound by rope. Samson breaks free of his binding ropes by the Spirit of the Lord, and kills 1,000 of the Philistines. Later, he is captured again when his second wife betrays him. The result? The Philistines bind him, gouge out both of his eyes, and force him to entertain them one night while they are praising their god Dagon. Never one to quit, Samson makes a move one last time, lifting up the pillars that sustain the house, bending them, and causing the house to fall on him and all of the 3,000 Philistines inside it to death.

God was seeking an occasion against the Philistines. (14:4). He wanted to deliver His chosen people from the ones who were falsely ruling over them. Did you catch how the LORD sought this occasion? Don't miss it dear one. He used what looked like a bad idea to Samson's mother and father (the intermarriage) to begin the process. He also used betrayal (two different times by both of Samson's wife). He used it again when the men of Judah allowed fear to be the motivator of their decision. Samson being in their 'world,' was a threat to their own personal safety for they knew the Philistines would come looking for him. Thus, Samson allows himself to be bind in rope by them and returned to the Philistines. Again, and again, and again, Samson's life is allowed by the sovereign, yet permissible will of God, to enter into the hands of those who were his enemies, so that God could be the ultimate Avenger and Redeemer for His people.

Too often I am afraid we stand with mouths gaped open in shock like Samson's mother and father, worried about a circumstance that looks horrific externally. Or maybe we are like the men of Judah who want to keep our spiritual bubbles 'just so,' and any threat to the way we run ministry, the way we like life, the way we see God, we just bind in ropes and toss back to the enemy.

Sister...your betrayal, or the ropes He's allowed your circumstances to be bound under, may be the exact vessels He is using to seek an occasion against your enemy. For the sin, stronghold, or addiction that is 'ruling over you,' you may feel like He's turned you over to them just as he allowed Samson to be turned over to his enemies. He may just have (Romans 1:24)...but if I could grab your sweet face in my hands to tell you that it could be for your ultimate victory in Christ, I would. When we are given over to the unsatisfying and sickening life of depravity (the enemy of our flesh), God can ultimately use it for our good. It may be that He has allowed you to feel the mud of that pit, or the tightness of those binding ropes, so that you will know that He Himself is orchestrating your freedom behind the scenes so that He can be a Mighty Deliverer to you. He is only waiting for you to cry out to Him.

Perhaps, the most profound thing to me about the life of Samson was that he desired even to die, so that he could kill the greatest number of Philistines possible by doing so. "So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he killed in his life." (16:30). Could it be that God is asking you to die (to the sinful nature of your flesh ) so that He can truly act upon the occasion He has long been seeking to destroy your enemies? I am sure that with the crucifixion of our flesh, God is readily more available to kill your enemies. And it is in death my sweet sister, that He raises you up with resurrection power. Let Him seek an occasion in your precious life.That rejection, that manipulation, and that death may really be the occasion He is using to give you a life of liberty.