When I look at a guy like Samson, I’m blown away by how terrible this he was. Refused to listen to his parents. Killed 30 men to pay a debt. Visited a prostitute. Tore up the town gate. Married outside the faith. Threw away his vow to God because he had no patience, no discernment, and no self-control.
Samson was a disaster.
Even when he finally called out to God, he wanted to get revenge against his captors for gouging out his eyes, not for enslaving his people. And yet God granted his request and restored his strength so he could complete his kamikaze mission.
Why? Why did God restore his strength… or even give it to him to begin with?
Remember when Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery? Some years later that decision led his prominent position in Egypt. And he famously said, “What you intended for evil, God intended for good.”
There are a great many people with incredible talents. These all come from God, he is the one who knit each of us together in our mother’s wombs. These gifts are part of common grace from God. And in this case, God knew what decisions Samson would make and how he would use (and abuse) the gifts He bestowed on Samson. And God raised up Samson at a time and in a place where his misuse of those gifts would accomplish God’s goals of judgement against the Philistines.
What Samson intended for selfish gain, God intended for good.