Worst break up ever

I’ve heard some pretty bad break up stories. The kind that sound like they came out of a movie. The stories that make you cringe.

This may be one of the worst…. Here’s the story:

Sam was married…. well almost. He was engaged. Sam was attracted to the bad girl- the kind your parents say “Her? really? Isn’t there another girl you’d be interested in?” The perfect Romeo & Juliet setting. So when they have a big wedding party, alliances are torn. Without going into all the details the bride-to-be ends up in tears for the 7 day party. Sam gets in a fight with his soon-to-be-bride’s friends and family. The wedding never happens, but this wasn’t one of those ‘part ways’ on ‘good terms’ break-ups. Sam’s groom’s man and the bride ran off together.

Putting it lightly, Sam had a hard time with this, and some anger issues too. Anyone who’s gone through a break up or watched someone go through one knows that a person can make some rash and regrettable decisions. Sam would be a good example of that. He decided to start a massive fire to burn all of his former fiance’s friends and family’s land. And of course your Romeo-Juliet romance has to end with someone dying. That would be the former fiance… and her father. Since Sam was MIA, his enemies had to blame someone for the fire. Now Sam and this family were definitely on worse terms then before.

Sam then goes for a rebound girl. You’d think Sam would have learned from his last mistake and gone for a good girl this time, but no. Again he was attracted to the mysterious girl in enemy territory. Already you can tell this isn’t going in a good direction. Sam’s enemies found out about his secret fling with his mysterious girl. Maybe we can blame Sam’s vulnerability to this lady’s charm and deceit on his relationship history, but once again the woman Sam trusted put Sam into the hands of his enemies. Those enemies didn’t kill him. I think they did worse. They humiliate him and take out his eyes. No longer will he lay eyes on a beautiful woman.

If this story doesn’t sound familiar, it’s my modern rendition of Samson’s story in the Bible- One of the strongest men ever written about who was continually in arguments and fights with the Philistines. While reading this story I was struck with how this story definitely tops the list of break up stories I’ve heard, partly because of the facts above. Who wouldn’t have a hard time getting over 2 break-ups of deceit, death and humiliation like that? But that’s not the only reason it tops my break up list.

After all of this goes down, there’s 1 line at the end that makes this one of the worst break-ups I know. But he [Samson] did not know that the LORD had left him.

Samson had the greatest secret gift against his enemies- his strength found in his promise to God to never cut his hair. But a woman got between him and God. Definitely not the first time that’s happened, by both women and men. This wasn’t just about a haircut. It’s about how Samson chose his own selfish desires over his promise to God, so God gives Sam what he wants- his space. This isn’t to say that God gives up on us. Because He never does, and if you read the rest of Samson’s story you’ll see how God used Samson to defeat His enemies, no eyes and all.

One thing I have learned- break ups are hard. It doesn’t matter if it’s a break-up in high school, in a friendship, or a divorce. Break ups hurt. But even in light of those very difficult things, I know a break up with God is far worse than all of them. When a relationship falls apart I know I can turn to God. I can’t imagine the position Samson found himself in after his 2 lovers turned against him and even God had left him.

A lesson to all of us, don’t let a lover get in the way of our relationship with God. That could be an actual lover, a job, a hobby, money, or a dream. Don’t settle for less than God. He’s the most important relationship to hold onto.