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"And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him." (Judges 16:20)Oh, the horrible tragedy of those who have been shorn of their strength! See Samson now in verse 21 looking helpless and hopeless. Yet, Samson is one of God's pictures of all who dabble too long in sin.Samson had joked around with Delilah on several previous occasions pretending to confide in her the secret to his God-given strength. Then finally and without forethought, he revealed it to her, and she, being that person, she showed herself earlier to be, quickly took advantage of the information and had his hair shaved. Now the pathetic scene follows. He rises from his lustful sleep upon her lap and attempts to go boldly against the Philistines, but this time without the strength he had before, He was captured and had his eyes gouged out. You know, if we're not careful, the same thing can easily happen to any of us. A testimony is ruined. Character becomes tainted. Worst of all, a relationship with the Lord Almighty, like Samson found out, is weakened. When one dilly-dallies in sin long enough while assuming that they can have the Power of Christ and still enjoy the immediate pleasures of sin, they will awaken one day from that nightmare, as God's Strongman discovered, to find they have been shorn of the strength that they thought they would always have. The joy of the Lord has departed and therefore, life loses its luster because they had committed sins, they never thought possible.Thankfully, we're reminded throughout the Scriptures that God is only a prayer away. We see Samson crying out to God in verse 28 of this same chapter saying, "....O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes." When we turn to Christ in repentance and faith, God is ready to restore what has been lost, although there may be life-long scars from the sinful decisions that were made.As we earnestly contend for the faith with this new brand of Philistines camped around us these days, who wait in hiding ready to pounce on us, God wants you and I as soldiers with the Power of the Holy Spirit on our lives. He wants folks who will pray when they're tempted and who will stand tall when they're troubled by those who tempt and tease them.Friends, where does your strength lie today? Do you trust in your own strength or in the strength of another Christian or a Preacher? What a worthless exercise in foolishness and futility that is, and one that leads to frustration and failure! Psalm 118:8 declares, "It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man."