Samson’s Marriage
14 Then Samson went down to Timnah and saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines. 2 So he came [a]back and told his father and [b]mother, “I saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines; now therefore, get her for me as a wife.” 3 Then his father and his mother said to him, “Is there no woman among the daughters of your [c]relatives, or among all [d]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 [e]looks good to me.” 4 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.
5 Then Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother, and came as far as the vineyards of Timnah; and behold, a young lion came roaring toward him. 6 The Spirit of the Lord [f]came upon him mightily, so that he tore him as one tears a young goat though he had nothing in his hand; but he did not tell his father or mother what he had done. 7 So he went down and talked to the woman; and she [g]looked good to Samson. 8 When he returned later to take her, he turned aside to look at the carcass of the lion; and behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the body of the lion. 9 So he scraped [h]the honey into his [i]hands and went on, eating as he went. When he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them and they ate it; but he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey out of the body of the lion.
10 Then his father went down to the woman; and Samson made a feast there, for the young men customarily did this. 11 When they saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him.
It seems Samson had a couple weak spots, women and food (the lion carcass would have been unclean and off-limits to the Israelites). But rather than discard Samson for his weakness, God would use it for His plan. In fact, the passage tells us that Samson’s attraction to the Philistine woman was “of the Lord…”
Now, that’s not an excuse to go sinning and say, but it was “of the Lord” and God will use it for His plan. Rather, it is a reminder that the unlikely things, even troubles and temptations, are used by God to bring glory to His name. Without them, God would be a “lawnmower” parent, smoothing out the path, lest we have opportunity to stumble and fall.
God wants us to grow, not to be stagnant. Though it might seem odd from our perspective, sometimes falling is part of the journey.