Between Two Pillars
The dark guardian within me refused to believe it to be true. My pride, coated in steel and ready for challenge, burned at the word…weak.
“I am not weak…” it hissed.
This word and its meaning had a hold on my heart, and I could feel its grip begin to twist tighter.
Because behind the misplaced bravado of my pride lies a wounded little girl who fully believed she was weak and incapable.
So pride - the defender of self - stepped in to prove to everyone that I could do anything and everything and I could do it well, without help…because that was “true strength.”
All it took was 7 words from my Abba to completely shatter the fortress of this lie.
I heard it deep within my heart - that grip tightening as if to grab my attention before it softened with a whisper:
"Where you are weak, I am strong."
This whisper extinguished the flames of my anger. Iron clattered to the ground as my pride fell on its knees - the sword of my self-centeredness shattered the moment it hit the ground - truly a weapon more of fragility than might.
The fearful little girl deep within my heart heard MORE that was laced within those words:
"There you are - I’ve been looking for you.
You are not alone.
You are enough.
You are a vessel for me.
Let me in.
I love you.
Now stand."
Have you ever felt like you were running on your own strength, trying to handle life’s challenges by yourself, only to hit a point where it all comes crashing down? That’s the challenge I was wrestling with, so God quickly led me to meditate on the story of Samson. His journey is about learning, in a painfully real way, that true strength doesn’t come from within—it comes from God.
It’s a story of failure, but also of incredible grace. It reminds us that no matter how far we’ve fallen, no matter how badly we’ve messed up, it’s never too late to turn back to God and let Him work through us.
Samson was born with a purpose. He was given incredible strength and set apart by God to deliver Israel from their enemies, the Philistines.
His life was full of intense moments—battles, impossible tasks, and risky choices. From his youth, he showed a tendency to rely on his physical strength - the pathway to his pride. He often acted impulsively, seeking personal vengeance or satisfaction without considering the larger plan God had for him. He tore apart a lion with his bare hands, slewed a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey, and carried away the gates of a city on his shoulders. But in all these feats, Samson failed to recognize the true source of his strength, because he believed it was his own ability that set him apart.
The real turning point came when Samson’s pride finally caught up with him. His repeated compromises eventually led him to reveal the secret of his strength—his Nazirite vow to God, symbolized by his uncut hair. After he shared the secret of his strength to Delilah, his hair was cut, and the Philistines captured him. His strength left him, but more importantly, God’s presence left him.
In that moment, Samson’s world fell apart. He was blinded and humiliated, reduced to grinding grain in prison—nothing like the warrior he once was. Yet, it’s in these moments of brokenness that we often see the clearest picture of God’s grace. Samson, blinded and shackled, began to realize that without God, he was powerless.
That’s the beauty of Samson’s story—and our story— God’s grace is bigger than our failures. In that dark, lonely place, Samson had time to reflect. He began to realize that his strength had never been his own—it had always come from God. And in his weakest moment, with nothing left to rely on, Samson began to turn his heart back to the Lord.
Pride was no longer guarding the place God longed to reside within.
What’s so comforting about Samson’s story is that even after everything—after his rebellion, his mistakes, and his downfall—God wasn’t done with him. Samson’s hair began to grow back, a sign that God had not abandoned him.
In the temple of the Philistine god Dagon, as the enemies who mocked him gathered for a celebration, Samson stood between two pillars. He prayed:
“Sovereign Lord, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me just once more.” Judges 16:28
Samson, broken and humbled, didn’t make a grand speech or try to prove himself. He simply asked God to remember him, to strengthen him once more. It was a prayer of surrender, of trust. He knew his strength had never really been his—it had always been God’s. And now, he was ready to trust God fully.
As Samson stood between those two pillars, he didn’t know what the outcome would be. He simply prayed for God to strengthen him one more time, trusting that whatever happened next was in God’s hands.
He pushed against the pillars with all his might, and God answered his prayer, bringing the temple down and defeating the Philistines.
Samson’s final act of trust wasn’t about seeing the immediate results. In fact, Samson didn’t live to see the full deliverance of Israel. But his faithfulness in that moment helped set the stage for others to carry on the work.
Sometimes, God asks us to be faithful without showing us the results right away. Maybe you’ve been praying for something for a long time, or you’ve been trying to follow God’s lead but haven’t seen much progress. It can be discouraging, but Samson’s story reminds us that our faithfulness matters, even when we can’t see the outcome. In fact, you might be planting seeds that someone else will harvest, or starting a work that others will finish.
“Let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9
Between the two pillars, Samson’s life came full circle. In his final act, Samson found strength in his weakness, power in his dependence on God. And in that dependence, God accomplished more through Samson in his death than in his life.
His story reminds us that even in our weakest moments, God can give us the strength to keep going, to start over, and to finish the work He’s begun in us.
Where we are weak, God is strong. We don’t have to carry it alone. Isn’t that so freeing??
If you’re standing between your own “two pillars” today, facing a moment of decision, know that God is right there with you, ready to give you the strength you need. All He asks is that you turn to Him, trusting in His power instead of your own. And when you do, you’ll find that even in your greatest weakness, God can do more through you than you ever imagined.
