No Lone Rangers

“But he did not know that the Lord had left him.”

Judges 16:20

This week, my seven year old son asked me if he could play a game on the wii.  I told him no.  He made it clear that he did not like that answer and he went and isolated himself in his room.  He later came out and we had a good talk where I quoted the Rolling Stones and told him that we can’t always get what we want, but we get what we need, yeah, yeah.

This experience made me think about how I respond to the word “no”.  It also got me thinking about relationships because I have seen how I can isolate when I don’t get what want.  I was reminded of this when I did a Bible study on Samson in Judges 13-16.

Samson did not like to hear the word “no.”  He was also a perpetual lone ranger.  He did not build relationships that could influence him.  He did not listen to his parents, he did not build spiritual relationships with women, and he is not described as having any real friends.  His relationship with God was also very limited and superficial.  He did not even notice when God had left him.  His lack of desire for honest relationships and his inability to build friendships clearly led to his downfall.

The study left me examining my relationships and asking these questions:

1. How do I respond to the word “no”?
2. Do I have relationships that can influence me?
3. How much effort am I putting into building spiritual friendships?
4. Would I notice if God left me?  How close to God am I?  Does my relationship with God have depth?
5. What spiritual failures have I had because of isolation and lack of spiritual friends?
6. What can I do this week to develop deeper spiritual relationships?