Judges 14:6

A young lion roared at him, so there was an arrest on the road. We know that the spirit of ease and self-indulgence easily finds a lion in the way. It can even make one where there is none. But here was a real lion, and it roared at the self-willed youth. Then "the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him" — an amazing fact to some minds, given the circumstances. This is the agent of divine power at work. It is in no way the seal of redemption or the pledge of the inheritance, as we know Him dwelling in us now, since Jesus shed His blood.

Satan appears here in one of his many forms. The seduction may lead into the ambush, and the ambush into open assault. But in open attack he is less to be feared than elsewhere. The soldier of Christ is more easily lulled to sleep than beaten in battle. The Spirit of the LORD comes on Samson at once, and he wakes up to his strength. He tears the lion without a weapon in his hand, as easily as one would tear a young goat. It is the power of God, but worked out in the living energy of a man stripped bare of all other help. With such help the mightiest foe goes down as easily as the weakest. There is no need to measure difficulties. Just be sure of this: the greatest opposition means the greatest triumph. And it is the glory of the clay jar that the power's excellence belongs to God and not to us.

Here the Lord teaches him how he must overcome. It is not by an unholy alliance with evil, but by direct opposition to it. And in the end he does come to this.

But when the young lion roared against him, "the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, and he tore the lion in pieces as one tears a young goat." This was surely God's voice to His servant. It reminded him that he would be stronger than all the enemy's power, as long as he walked in keeping with his call and mission. "The lion," as another has said, "has no strength against one who belongs to Christ."

Samson's victory over the lion of Timnah was not only a proof of strength; it was a secret between him and God. He told his parents about the Philistine woman who had caught his eye. About his victory he told no one. Samson's life was full of secrets and at the same time full of acts of power. Even his Nazarite separation was a secret, a link between his own soul and the LORD that no one knew about. This link is for us communion.

When we see these words we may be sure that the conflict is entirely according to God and without mixture. We can also win such victories. Our victories do not depend on a temporary action of the Holy Spirit coming on us from outside. They rest on redemption: God has sealed us with the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of power. Still, we cannot measure the moral worth of a man of God by the greatness of his gift. Nowhere in Scripture do we find a stronger man than Samson, nor one weaker morally.