The Spirit of God stirred him up | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: March 06, 2024 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 6, No. 43

“The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew and the LORD blessed him, and the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him while he was in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.” (Judg 13:24-25NIV)

What was Samson born for? He was born to begin the deliverance of the nation of Israel from the hand of the Philistines. And did he do what he was born for or not? He did it. Of course, based on what we have in Scriptures, indiscipline, lust and weakness with women affected his focus greatly and even led to his untimely death. But he actually lived his life to do nothing else other than to fight for the deliverance of his people.

Now what made it possible for Samson to give himself, in spite of all the distractions in his life, to fighting the Philistines, as he had been ordained and born to do? The answer is in our opening bible text, which tells us that the Spirit of God stirred him up. We are not told how old he was when the Spirit of God began to stir him up to do what he was born to do. But we are told that while he was still in Mahaneh Dan, as a young and single man, the Spirit of God began to stir him up.

So, it was not because Samson’s parents motivated him to take up arms and begin to fight the Philistines that he began to fight them. And it was not because he joined the army of Israel and was highly inspired by one of the commanders that he took it as his business to fight the Philistines for the deliverance of Israel at any chance he got. Rather, it was because the Spirit of God stirred him up to do so.

As we see in the bible, the Israelites at that time were too afraid of the Philistines to fight them or to rebel against them. That was why when the Philistines once demanded that they hand Samson over to them to be killed, they did not hesitate at all to do so. So, if Samson was expecting any form of motivation or encouragement to fight the Philistines from anyone, it surely would not come from his own people, the Israelites. It had to come from somewhere else. And it did come from somewhere else – it came from the Spirit of God. (Cf. Judges 15)

In what ways, then, did the Spirit of God stir up or motivate this young man to fight for the deliverance of his people and fulfil God’s purpose for his life? First, it was by causing him to passionately hate the oppression they were suffering from the hands of the Philistines. If he had not passionately hated what the Philistines were doing to them, he would most likely not have thought of doing anything about it.

Second, the Spirit of God stirred him up to recognize and utilize the divine fighting power and skills in him to deal with the Philistines and give the Israelites rest. Hating oppression is one thing; having the ability and confidence to reject and end it is another. If all that Samson had was just hatred for the oppressive rule of the Philistines and no power to end it, he would most likely have ended up getting himself killed before his time. But he had more than hatred for the oppression of the Philistines; he also had divine abilities from God to end their oppression. Nevertheless, if the Spirit of God had not stirred him up and emboldened him to use those abilities to save his people, they would have amount to nothing.

In the same manner, even though God has a purpose for each of us in this life and has also given to us everything we need to accomplish it, that purpose may not be realized, if the Spirit of God does not wake us up and stir us up to accomplish it. That is because we, like Samson, may not have anyone around us to motivate us or encourage us to take advantage of His grace to accomplish His purpose for our lives. No, we may not have anyone around us who is seeing what God is seeing in us and who is ready to give us the needed encouragement or support to labour to be all that God wants us to be and do all that He wants us to do. But if we have the Spirit of God in us and with us, He will give us all the motivation and courage we need to accomplish God’s purpose for our lives.

Thankfully, all of us who are children of God have the Spirit of God in us and with us. And one of the reasons He is with us and in us is to stir up and motivate us to be all that God wants us to be and do all that He wants us to do in life. So, even if nobody is interested in what we are and can accomplish, we can expect Him to stand by us all the way, giving us all the courage, encouragement, wisdom and determination that we need to accomplish God’s purpose for our lives.

We too, however, must not quench His motivation. In other words, when He is stirring us up and moving us, we need to get up and move. Otherwise, everything He is doing in us and with us may just go to waste. So, Paul says this to Timothy: “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” (2Tim 1:6-7NIV)

Did you see that? It is not the job of the Holy Spirit to fan into flame what God has given to us. That is our job. Yes, He is in us to stir us up to accomplish God’s purpose for us in life. But it is on us, as He stirs us up, to take all the gifts, abilities, skills and education God has given to us and shine with them, using them to make life better for us and for others in our world. And we can do this because the Spirit of God in us will always furnish us with sufficient power, love and self-discipline to do so.

What, then, are we waiting for? Let us roll up our sleeves and get working, as the Spirit is moving. And great and awesome things will be done by God here on earth through us.

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