The Alternative

Dr. Tony Evans: When you're operating outside of your calling and you're operating outside of God's power—

Guest (Male): Dr. Tony Evans says we need to stick with what makes us unique.

Dr. Tony Evans: He's calling us to live in this world, but he's calling us to a value system that is different than the world in which we're in.

Guest (Male): This is The Alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans.

The recipe of faith has only one ingredient: God. Today, Dr. Evans tells us about the trouble one biblical character got into when he tried adding some spice to the mix. Let's join him.

Dr. Tony Evans: Football games have halftime. Halftime is a time of resting and assessment. It is a short break in the middle of the game to kind of regather and re-look at things. How have things been doing the first half? What adjustments need to be made for the remaining of the contest?

We've shown you numbers of lives of numbers of people in the Bible who were broken, where life created a dilemma for them, but whom God raised up to use in a marvelous way. And he still has plans for you. Our final personality for this series is a well-known biblical character. His name is Samson.

When you read his story, you might be tempted to think he doesn't belong there. But there he is, big as life, in the chapter that talks about the great men and women of faith in Hebrews 11. But he does start out very powerfully in chapter 13, verse five. For behold, talking to Samson's mother, you shall conceive and give birth to a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines.

He would have been a star today because of all he had going for him. But there was one thing different about him: the Nazirite vow. His mother had to explain to him as a boy, "Son, you're not like every other kid. You belong to God. And God said, 'I want him to carry out my purpose.'"

What was that purpose? Well, it said in verse five that his purpose was to deliver Israel. That's what the judge was supposed to do. He was supposed to deliver Israel from their enemy. In other words, he had a kingdom contract, a divine assignment because he was set apart—the Nazirite vow—to a unique purpose.

Samson's road to losing his power started with a marital compromise in chapter 14. And Samson went down to Timnah and saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines. Now, he starts with compromising with the Philistines by marrying outside of God's will. You see, the law was clear, and that is you were not to marry a pagan. Why? Because you would be establishing a covenant with another god.

He told his mother and father—I'm summarizing the story here—go get this woman. Go get this woman for me. His mother and father said, "No, we can't do that. That's a Philistine woman." He said, "I don't care. I want her anyway." So Samson married outside of God's will, which becomes the first step of confusion in his life and actually ultimately leads to his wife losing everything, including her life.

From chapters 13, 14, and 15, you'll see a number of feats of Samson that will not be our focus, where he does some amazing things. But in the meantime, he discovers he can be a player. He can be a player because he's discovered that women love Samson. In chapter 16, we read, "Now Samson went to Gaza and saw a prostitute there and went into her."

So now he's at woman number two. He's got a great feat going on here because the Philistines find out he's in town in the red-light district, and they descend on him. And this Herculean guy, he lifts up the doors of the gate of the city. Now, this is not like backyard gates. These are the gates that you let caravans through and stuff. This is not humanly possible for one man to do, and he takes them 40 miles, making the land of Philistia vulnerable.

And then he meets Delilah. That word Delilah means delicate, soft to the touch. But remember, he's a player. Because verse four says, "And it came about that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah." The Philistines, it goes on to say, talked to Delilah and said, "Samson is hooked on you. And we will give you enough money to retire if you will locate the secret of his strength. Because this man is wreaking havoc with us, and we got to deal with him, but we don't know what his secret is. And since we can't find it out, we know what love's got to do with it. We know you can work that thing because you've messed up his mind."

So she goes to him and she says time number one, "What's your strength?" Well, remember, Samson likes to play games. He likes riddles and stuff. And so he tells her his strength is something that it is not, and she says, "Hey, the Philistines are on you!" and he jumps up. He's obviously lied there. She says time number two, "Come on, you're messing with me. What makes you so strong, honey?" He lies to her again. Wrong again. Third time, same thing happens.

Then we get to time number four, verse 15. Then she said to him, "How can you say I love you"—she's working it now—"How can you say I love you when your heart's not with me? You don't love me. You never loved me. You just said you loved me. You have deceived me these three times and have not told me where your great strength is. If you love me, how you going to have a secret from me?"

It came about when she pressed him daily. The word there: nagging. Any man in here been pressed daily? So she constantly berates him day after day and urged him so that his soul was annoyed to death. He was going nuts. So he told her all that was in his heart and said, "A razor shall never come on my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb. If I am shaved, then my strength will leave me and I will become weak, and I will become like other men."

Now, what's the implication? "I'm not like other men." When Delilah saw, verse 18, that he had told her all that was in his heart, she called the lords of the Philistines saying, "Come up once more, for he has told me all that was in his heart." Then the lords of the Philistines came to her and brought the money and put it in her hands. And she called for a man, and he shaved off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to afflict him, and his strength left him.

Now, the power is not in his hair. The power is in the Spirit of the Lord coming upon him. That's why I read that earlier; the Spirit of the Lord came upon him. But the power was represented by his hair because his hair was the symbol of his vow, and his vow was his dedication to God. So when he lost his hair, he lost his vow, which means he was no longer functioning in his dedication, which means he no longer had access to power.

When you're operating outside of your calling, you're operating outside of God's power. When you're operating outside of your uniqueness, your separation as a follower of Christ, you're operating outside of where the Spirit flows. She hollers out in verse 20, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" He awakes from his sleep and says, "No problem, I'm going to go out there just like other times and shake myself free." But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him.

The scene changes in verse 23. The lords of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon, their god, and to rejoice, for they said, "Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hands." When the people saw him, they praised their god, for they said, "Our god has given our enemy into our hands, even the destroyer of our country who has slain many of us." They bound him with bronze chains, and he was a grinder in prison. And we're running the show in your life, even though you were dedicated to God.

Some of us in here today were dedicated perhaps in our churches growing up by our parents, and then we got to college and we adopted the world. And we got as blind as they were, as bound as they were, as defeated as they were because we left our uniqueness, our Nazirite vow, our sanctification.

Guest (Male): Dr. Evans will explore the rest of Samson's story when he continues our message in just a moment. First though, I want to tell you about a popular book from Dr. Evans that connects perfectly with what we're learning today. It's called Kingdom Heroes. In it, Tony takes you inside the Bible's Faith Hall of Fame, showing how ordinary people accomplished extraordinary things simply by trusting God at his word.

It's a powerful reminder that your past doesn't disqualify you from God's blessings, and your future isn't limited by your failures. We're packaging Kingdom Heroes together with all eight full-length messages from Tony's current series, It's Not Too Late. It's our way of saying thanks for your support of this ministry. But this is the last day we'll be bundling these resources together, so don't miss out. Be sure to visit tonyevans.org right away to make your donation and receive this special package. Or if it's more convenient, give us a call at 1-800-800-3222 where our resource team members are ready to assist you. That's tonyevans.org or by phone at 1-800-800-3222.

Sometimes the clearest moments come when you step away from the noise and give your soul room to breathe. This February, you're invited to experience that kind of renewal on a Caribbean cruise with Dr. Tony Evans. Join Dr. Evans and friends of the ministry February 28th through March 7th for a seven-day journey from Fort Lauderdale. You'll visit Nassau, the unspoiled beaches of Grand Turk, and Amber Cove in the Dominican Republic, along with peaceful days at sea and a relaxing stop at Half Moon Cay.

Together, these moments create the perfect setting for rest, reflection, and spiritual growth. And on board, you'll experience inspiring teaching, uplifting worship, and meaningful connection. This isn't just a vacation; it's an opportunity to return home refreshed, refocused, and renewed. Don't miss your chance to be part of it. Visit tonyevans.org and make your reservation today. That's tonyevans.org. Now, Dr. Evans will return to wrap up today's message right after this.

Dr. Tony Evans: I want to call your attention in this last segment to a verse. However, verse 22 says, "the hair of his head began to grow again after it was shaved off." His hair is growing back not just because it got cut off, but because he, in his broken state, is getting back right with God. That's the only way you can explain him showing up in Hebrews chapter 11 as a man of faith in his messed-up condition, his broken life, his bound situation, him serving another god. It dawns on him about his dedication.

Some of you here today are asking God, "Give me my life back. Give me my peace back. Give me my joy back. Give me my unity back. Take me off of these pills, take me off of these drugs." And you're blind, you can't see any solution. You're bound, you can't see any freedom, and things are going bad. But it says, "however."

See, there is a however word for the Christian. And your however word that gets your hair back is the word repentance. When you agree with God about where you have gone wrong and you turn back and get back on the right road, that is called repentance, God turning it around.

So verse 25, it so happened when they were in high spirits, they said, "Call for Samson that he may amuse us." So they called for Samson from the prison, and he entertained them. Oh, I love verse 27. You've got to get verse 27 now. Now the house was full of men and women, and all the lords of the Philistines were there. And about 3,000 men and women were on the roof looking on while Samson was amusing them.

Up until this point, he uses God's power for himself, to benefit him. When they made him mad, he'd take care of business. But that was not the calling. The calling wasn't just to take care of you. The calling was to deliver others. God's purpose for your life is not just about you. Now, it includes you, but it never includes only you. God's kingdom purpose is blessed to be a blessing. So if you cannot describe how you're being a blessing, you have to question whether indeed you have been blessed. Because God never blesses you for you.

I'm going to bless you. I'm going to give you power unlike any other man, opportunity unlike any other man, so that you can what? Deliver them. Who are you delivering because God delivered you? Who are you setting free because he set you free? Whom are you helping because he helped you? Whom are you strengthening? Like Peter, "When I strengthen you, strengthen your brothers." Who are you? Just like Esther, it's not just about you, girl. You've got to take care of everybody else in this nation too. It's never just about you.

You are to deliver Israel. So he wants you to know who's gathered. He wants you to know the leaders were gathered—the lords of the Philistines. All the genders were gathered—men and women. And there was an overflow for the entertainment of the day. While they were all gathering, verse 28 says, "Then Samson called to the Lord." He's remembering his vow. He's remembering his commitment. He's remembering his set-apartness. He has repented of what has led him to be in this place.

His hair is growing back. That's his vow. And when it does, he calls on God—the God who had departed. He calls on God and said, "Remember me, and please strengthen me just this time, oh God." Verse 29, Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, braced himself against them, the one on his right hand and the other on his left. And Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines."

There are two interpretations of this. One, you could say because he says, "Let me die with the Philistines." Or because his hair is growing back and he's back in fellowship with God now, he could be saying something else. He could be saying what Paul said, "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain." He could be saying, "I want to go out of here a winner." He could be saying, "I want to leave here and I'm willing to give my life to deliver my people."

He could be saying, "I'm willing to give everything. I'm willing to die in victory rather than live in shame." So what he says is, "God, let this be my finest hour. When I close my eyes in death, let me close my eyes having won this game. Let me close my eyes not as a loser but as a winner. Better to go to heaven earlier as a winner than later as a loser."

And so he presses against the pillars. He bent with all of his might, so that the house fell on the lords and all the people who were with in it, so that the dead whom he killed at his death, which was for the purpose of delivering Israel, were more than those he killed in his life. Wait a minute now. He had 1,030 victories in his life. In his death, he had mega-thousands of victories of those who worshipped the idol and were against the true God and were terrorizing God's people. The score wasn't even close.

What am I saying? I'm saying it's not too late. I was listening to Drew Pearson talking about the Cowboy days when he was the wide receiver, and he made a statement. He was talking about Roger Staubach. And he said, "There's one thing about Roger. He said we knew as long as he was quarterbacking, the game was never over. His presence always meant to us victory is possible."

If you ever get God back in his rightful place so your hair starts to grow—so that repentance brings you back into fellowship—you can discover that no matter what the score of your life is right now, game ain't over. Because God has a way with two minutes left of being able to score multiple times. At his death, it says he did more than 19 years or 20 years worth of human effort. He did more in those final remaining moments than he'd accomplished all of his life.

You don't have to end the game of life a loser, even if you've lost to this point. God says if you let your hair grow—that is, take back your vow, come back into your sanctified relationship with me—you can discover even if you live bad, you can die well. He saw his sacrifice as the ultimate deliverance of Israel.

Then it closes. Then his brothers and all of his father's household came down, took him, brought him up, and buried him. It closes by saying and he judged Israel for 20 years. And yet he shows back up in Hebrews chapter 11 as a great man of faith. Why? Because when he got back right with God, God did great things through him even in the last two minutes of life.

The word I want to leave you with today is: don't you give up. Don't you quit. Don't you throw in the towel. Don't you run away. Don't you say it'll never be me. You say, "But I'm blind, I'm bound, the other god is calling the shots in my life, I'm a failure, I'm defeated." All that may be true. You may be saying, "But I messed up, I tore up, I ruined my reputation." All that may be true.

It was true for Samson. But he said, "one more time." He said, "this last time show up and show out for me. And if it costs me my life, let me go out of here with a blaze of fire for God." Don't you give up. Don't you quit. But do come home by growing your hair, coming back to your commitment to your uniqueness, so God can let you see that the latter can be greater than the former because you've come back to him.

Guest (Male): Dr. Tony Evans talking about Samson's final comeback in the last message from his series, It's Not Too Late. Since we'll be moving on to present another series on Monday, this weekend will be your last chance to take advantage of that special resource package I mentioned earlier: Tony's popular book Kingdom Heroes and the eight-part audio collection It's Not Too Late.

This entire resource package is our gift to you when you make a contribution to help support Tony's ministry here on this station and others like it around the world. Be sure to visit tonyevans.org today to make your donation and get your copy of this powerful bundle of helpful resources. Or give us a call at 1-800-800-3222 where members of our team are available around the clock to help you. That's 1-800-800-3222.

And one final note: outside the pulpit, you can hear Dr. Evans bringing biblical insight into conversations with special guests on his Unbound podcast. You can listen anytime on his YouTube channel or on your favorite podcast platform. Headlines may shift by the hour, but God's word has already revealed where history is headed. On Monday, Dr. Evans shows how understanding biblical prophecy gives confidence and direction when life feels uncertain. Be sure to tune in for that.