You’ve heard the saying, “When someone shows you who they are, believe them.” It’s not your job to try and fix them, remember you’re not Jesus. Yes, God calls us to love, but love doesn’t mean you give them access to your life.

Now let me tell you, it goes much deeper than this. How about when you know something is a real temptation for you, but you keep flirting with it. How about when you know something isn’t right for you, but you keep doing it. How about when you know God has told you to shut it down, but you keep opening it back up. What eventually happens is we create a very unnecessary mess in our lives and the lives of others. Then that mess just explodes.

Honestly, has that happened to you? You knew they weren’t right … you knew this wasn’t right … you knew that needed to stop, but you kept going, you kept looking, you kept texting, you kept picking it back up. And here you are today, in a real explosion of a mess that’s embarrassing, painful, expensive, and feels impossible to fix.

Well, you’re not the first person to ever make a mistake like this. Have you ever heard of the story of Samson? You know, he was kind of the Fabio of the Bible. A man with long hair and supernatural strength, and the ladies liked him. (Side note, if you don’t know who Fabio is, you clearly didn’t live through the 90’s. Fabio got his start as the model for the cover of romance novels. Then he became the spokesperson for ‘I can’t believe it’s not butter.’ I know this much, my mama bought that stuff!) Okay, so in my mind, Samson is kind of like the Fabio of the Bible.

He had supernatural strength that could not be stopped, and long flowing hair. He single-handedly began rescuing the Isralites from their enemy, the Philistines. And this was all by God’s design. In fact, before Samson was even created, God had aligned his purpose. There was a man and woman who could not have children. They had tried everything to get pregnant and still no baby. Then, God sends an angel to speak to the woman and the angel gives her very specific instructions. In Judges 13:5, The angel said, “You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and his hair must never be cut. For he will be dedicated to God as a Nazirite from birth. He will begin to rescue Israel from the Philistines.”

So, sure enough, the impossible happens and this barren woman has a son. They named him Samson and kept the commitment to never cut his hair. Scripture says God blessed him as he grew up and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him.

He grew so strong his enemies feared him. He was unstoppable. Any rope they tied him in, he broke. Any army they sent against him, he destroyed. One time his only weapon was the jawbone of a donkey and he killed a thousand of the enemy. And they knew, his strength was special, it wasn’t natural. The Philistines knew the only way they could defeat him was to find out the secret to his strength.

Samson fell in love with a beautiful woman named Delilah. Delilah was easily swayed by the enemies and sold out to them. They offered her money in exchange for enticing Samson to tell what makes him so strong and how they could overpower him. And so it begins.

So, guess what happens? That night, she lulls Samson to sleep with his head in her lap, then she calls in a man to shave his head while he’s sleeping. And verse 19 says, “She began to bring him down, and his strength left him.” The Philistines were finally able to capture him, and he couldn’t break their ropes. They bound him and gouged his eyes out.

Brutal. But let me tell you something, brutal things happen when we flirt with the enemy and those who have sold out to the enemy.

We become weak in ungodly relationships. When we compromise, we pay a price. Failure to correct our sin leads us straight into bondage.

God is patient and merciful in giving us time and opportunities to correct our ways. He first allows little messes as warnings. He even helps us clean up those messes with his grace. But when we continue to do what we know we shouldn’t be doing, when we continue to flirt with danger and play with fire, then eventually it all comes burning down. You’ve heard the saying, “Dancing with the devil”. That means exactly this – doing what you know you shouldn’t be doing with people you know you shouldn’t be doing it with. Well, if you dance with the devil, don’t be surprised when your life goes to hell.

But, God gives us so many chances before we get there.

Three times before, Delilah had asked Samson to tell her the secret to his strength, and each time he would tell her a different made up story. The first time he told her he would become weak if he were tied up with 7 new bowstrings. And guess what, the next morning he woke up tied in 7 new bowstrings and the enemy was coming to get him. He broke free and took Delilah back.

Then, she pestered him again for his secret and he told her if he were tied up with brand new ropes he would become weak. The next morning he woke up in brand new ropes with the enemy coming. And there stood Delilah, having been the one who tied him up. But again, he took her back.

She just kept tormenting him with her nagging, asking and asking. The third time he told her if his hair was woven into 7 braids, it would make him weak. And you know what that woman did while he slept? She literally put his hair into the loom and wove it together with fabric, and right on que, here come his enemies thinking he would be weak. And what did that crazy man do for the third time … he let her back into his life.

Three times she showed him who she really was, but he was too weak to resist her.

The enemy shows us who he is. We see how he works in our lives. We know the affects of our sins. We have all felt the conviction of what we know we need to eliminate or change in our lives … but we just keep letting him back in. And he does to us what Delilah did to Samson, he just torments us with his nagging day after day. He pokes and pokes and pokes. AND THE CRAZY THING IS, WE LET HIM.

He keeps looking for the cracked door in our lives to gain access to us, and we’ve been so distracted that we’ve left the dang door open. So surprise, the devil has slipped in and he’s wrecking havoc in your family.

Our strength is in our relationship with God. But if we fail to correct our sin and listen to the promptings of God that tells us this needs to change, then we invite the bondage of the enemy. We literally let it happen.

And we know it. Just like Samson knew it. Samson had to know Delilah was tricking him. He had to know her intentions were evil. He had to know she was working for the enemy. But he kept letting her back in thinking he was strong enough to dance with her but not be defeated by her. He was wrong.

We are not strong enough to dance with the devil and not go to hell with him. We are not strong enough to play with the fire and not get burned. We are not strong enough to flirt with disaster and never end up in the disaster. We are not strong enough to keep sinning and not be held in bondage.

That is where this leads.

Whatever God has told you to change, change it now. Whatever God has told you to protect, protect it fiercely. Whatever the enemy has been tempting you with, slam that door so hard all hell hears it.

You’re being poked at. Tormented. The devil is just hoping he can wear you down again. But not this time! This time is the last time. God has supernaturally strengthened you to defeat the enemy. So defeat him. Deny him. Slam that door. Leave absolutely no space for him to reenter.

Jesus said, “With God, all things shall be possible.” With God, you can do anything. There it is, your secret supernatural strength is doing this WITH God. It’s your relationship with him. It’s your commitment to him. It’s your offering to him. It’s that sacred space in your life for him. And that is precisely what the devil will come after because he knows that’s the source of your strength.

Can’t you see how the enemy has bombarded your commitment to God with distractions and temptations. Can’t you see how everything you’ve offered to God is now clouded with busyness and excuses? That’s your enemy at work after the very thing that makes you strong.

What are you going to do about it. Sadly, many of us have curled up in the enemy’s lap and fallen asleep with our phones in our hands. He’s gouging our eyes out and making us blind!

Wake up, my sister. It’s time for us all to wake up. No more dancing with the devil.

Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela
Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim
Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com