God isn’t afraid of difficult teens and even had one of his own in Samson. Here, author Hilary Higgins, explains why you should take heart if you’re struggling with your child’s adolescence as you have no idea what God will call them to.
Has your child outgrown being taken to church but rebelling against going alone? You worry they might slip away and there seems little on managing teenagers in the Bible? Take heart. God had a difficult teen of his own once. And he used him to such good effect that he earned a place in the rollcall of faith in Hebrews.
Samson judged Israel for a period of just twenty years. It ended in the destruction of the temple in Gaza. It started when the angel announced his birth and mission. “He shall be a Nazarite to God from birth and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines.” Manoah’s blustering “What man of God?” which culminated in the spectacular departure of the angel, formed the first Samson story. It would have spread rapidly among the downtrodden people, spiritually far from the God now reaching out to them.
A child as a judge? God uses people of all ages. Judge means someone who is the interface between God and man, who shows that God is listening and carries out his purpose. All the judges were different. Samson was the teenager. We are told God visited him from time to time as he grew up. Each time would create another story and hope of deliverance spread through the Israelites.
God had a difficult teen of his own once and he used him to such good effect that he earned a place in the rollcall of faith in Hebrews.
Samson was a teenager with style and attitude. Those seven dreadlocks, thick and wide as they contained a lifetime of hair growth, were his statement of self. (Think ripped jeans and tattoos…) His parents knew he was special but they had no idea what he was about: “What do you mean, a Philistine girl? What’s wrong with one of ours?” He needed the support of his parents to arrange his marriage as he was underage but he did not tell them everything in return. He went off on his own as they travelled, without explanation, and they were kept in the dark about the lion and the bees.
All Samson’s stunts were outrageous. Using the resources God gave him, he dreamed up the riddle, caught three hundred jackals to set the grain fields alight, strolled off with the gates of Gaza and deposited them on top of a hill. He had a typical teenage interest in girls so his exploits sprang naturally from that angle. His mission was not to start a war, just “begin to deliver”. The closest he drove the dumbfounded Philistines to national reprisals was at Lehi, where a force of one thousand was mustered to capture one Hebrew teen. Unarmed, underage, unpredictable, Samson slaughtered them with a handy jawbone. Then cried to God because he was thirsty.
Who can tell what your teen will be called to do? They can hear God even when their music is too loud for you to get through.
God protected and guided his difficult teenager, even when he made mistakes. He was there for him always and Samson remained his child despite all appearances to the contrary. All Samson’s liaisons with women were but the means to carry out God’s plan, steered by faith and teenage attitude. His parents despaired. But God rejoiced in his difficult teenager. Who can tell what your teen will be called to do? They can hear God even when their music is too loud for you to get through.
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