Judges 14:1-14
There’s a curious and powerful story tucked away in the book of Judges. It’s the story of a strong, wild, and strangely anointed man named Samson—a man chosen by God during a time when Israel had no king and was ruled by judges. These judges were not courtroom officials like we picture today, but leaders whom God raised up to guide and deliver His people. Life during this period was unstable, and the people often cried out to God for help. When they did, God answered by raising up individuals like Samson to rise and lead with divine power.
Samson’s story begins with divine purpose. Before he was even born, an angel of the Lord visited his mother, who had been barren, and told her she would give birth to a son. This boy was to be set apart for God—a Nazirite from birth. He was to drink no wine, eat nothing unclean, and never cut his hair. His strength would be supernatural, and his life would serve a holy calling: to begin delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines. He was to be a symbol of hope and strength for a people who had forgotten their own power.
As Samson grew, so did his strength—and so did his appetite for risk. On one particular day, he traveled with his parents to Timnah to meet a Philistine woman he wanted to marry. On the way, as they approached the vineyards, a young lion came roaring toward him. In that moment, the Bible says, the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him. With no weapon, no warning, and no fear, Samson tore that lion apart with his bare hands, as if it were a young goat. He didn't tell his parents what he had done. He simply moved on as though nothing extraordinary had occurred.
Some time later, as he returned to marry the woman, Samson turned aside to revisit the site where he had slain the lion. What he found was strange and symbolic. Inside the carcass of the lion was a swarm of bees and a supply of honey. He scooped it out with his hands and ate it as he went along. When he rejoined his parents, he even gave them some—but again, he said nothing about where it came from. This strange moment birthed a riddle he would later give to the Philistines at his wedding feast: "Out of the eater came something to eat; out of the strong came something sweet." For three days, they could not solve the riddle.
The story is rich with imagery, and it’s easy to dismiss it as just another odd miracle. But there’s something profound in this moment—something deeply spiritual and unexpectedly practical. Samson found honey in a lion. Who would expect sweetness inside something so deadly? That’s not where we go looking for nourishment. Yet that’s exactly where God placed it.
Maybe you’ve faced lions too. Maybe your lion was a sickness, a loss, a betrayal, or a fear. You felt the roar of life trying to tear you down, and you had to fight. Sometimes we don’t feel strong enough. Sometimes we don’t see the purpose in the pain. But later, often much later, we return to those places and find that something sweet has grown there. A lesson. A deeper faith. A stronger sense of who we are in Christ. A testimony we can now share with someone else.
It’s strange, isn’t it? That God can place honey in the middle of the hurt. That He can bring beauty from ashes, sweetness from sorrow, nourishment from a place of fear. But that’s how God works. What once roared against us becomes the very thing that feeds us. The very thing that once threatened to destroy us becomes the evidence of God’s power in us. Samson’s lion didn’t just die. It became a symbol. A memory. A reminder that God is always working, even when we don’t understand the process.
Samson was a complicated man. He was gifted and anointed, yet impulsive and broken in many ways. He did mighty things for God, but he also made many mistakes. Still, God used him. Still, God empowered him. Still, God placed something sweet in the middle of his battle. And if God could do that for Samson—a flawed, wild, unpredictable man—then He can do that for you too.
Whatever lion you’re facing, don’t forget: there may be honey in it later. God doesn’t abandon His people. He doesn’t leave us in battles without purpose. So fight your lion. Face it with faith. And trust that one day, you’ll return to that same place and find something sweet waiting for you.
Not many would dare to go back and look at the body of a lion. In that time, people would have avoided such a sight altogether. But Samson was different. He was not afraid. He decided to return to the carcass of the lion he had once slain, just to take a look. And what he found there was something unexpected—a swarm of bees had made a hive in that dead lion's body. There was honey in the carcass. So Samson scooped up a good supply of honey, enjoying it along his journey, and even brought some home to share with his parents. But he did not tell them where he got it from—perhaps because he knew they wouldn’t eat it if they knew its origin.
When they asked where the honey came from, he didn’t give them the full story. Instead, he turned it into a riddle, like Samson often did. “Out of the eater came something to eat.” The eater, of course, was the lion—something that devours others. But out of that eater came sweetness and sustenance. It was a riddle that left people puzzled for days. That’s what Scripture tells us.
Reading that story, I started thinking about how much it mirrors our lives. Life is full of lions. Lions are eaters. But Samson made the eater into his nourishment. There’s a beautiful message in a book by Reverend Carlos that I have to give credit for. It’s the book that sparked this message in my heart. He wrote: Blessed are those who learn that there is honey in the lion. Isn’t that powerful?
Not all the lions we face are wild animals. Sometimes they’re much worse. They can be a disease, a diagnosis that knocks the wind out of you. It could be a situation at home—constant conflict with a loved one. It could be your own children, or something toxic at work. It could be financial stress, anxiety, depression—any number of things that seem to loom over us like lions, ready to devour us. We might not be able to outrun them, or fight them off like Samson did. But Samson’s approach was different. Bold. Faithful. He found nourishment from the very lion that once threatened his life.
That’s what God can do—bring honey out of the things that were meant to destroy us. If we stay humble and let God work it out, we will see His hand in it. But the problem is, we often don’t let God work. We jump in, try to fix everything ourselves, and make a mess of it. And then we blame God. But if we let Him do the work, we’ll find that even in the worst situations, He’s stored up some honey for us.
Wars, pandemics, tragedies—these are lions too. But even in World War I and II, out of great suffering came great advances—penicillin, medical breakthroughs, and eventually peace. Think about the pandemic we’ve all just come through. It shook the whole world. But as people of faith, we believe there’s still honey in that lion. We may revisit this place someday and find something sweet, something nourishing, that we couldn’t see while we were in the middle of it.
That is what faith is. It’s not being fearless, it’s being faithful. Faith doesn’t flee from the lion’s path. It knows that even in the shadow of death, God is with us. Samson wasn’t afraid to take the second route—to walk past that carcass again. Most would avoid it. But he knew something might be there. And it taught me that even when something reappears in our lives—be it an illness, a sorrow, a struggle—we don’t have to fear. God is still in control. God is more powerful than cancer, or any other lion we may face. He created us and knows what’s wrong with our bodies better than any doctor.
I have a friend who’s been in the hospital for seven days. The fever won’t break, and they’ve done every test they can think of. They’ve taken so much blood, his hands are bruised and sore. And still no diagnosis. But I told him, don’t be afraid. Maybe they won’t find it. But God already knows. He’s already begun His healing work. Whether you're in a hospital bed or sent home without answers, God will be with you either way.
And that’s what we must believe. That’s what we must pray for—that God will continue to be present, to fight alongside us, and to place honey in the places where fear once lived. Even when you must walk the same dark road again, don’t be afraid. God is storing up something sweet for you. So you can say, just like Samson did, “Out of the eater came something to eat.”
There are lions even in our churches. In the United Methodist Church, we face division, confusion, uncertainty—things we cannot solve on our own. But God has not changed. He has been faithful in the past, and He will continue to be faithful. Whether it’s in large congregations or small fellowships, we all face lions. But if we trust in the power of the Holy Spirit and stand firm, we will overcome them.
There’s an old survival guide that the Girl Scouts used. I don’t know if they still do. It taught what to do if you ever come face to face with a mountain lion in the wild. Do you run? Do you scream? No. They say—cover your head with a jacket. You make yourself look bigger than the threat. You intimidate the lion by your size.
And that’s what we do in faith. We know that our God is greater than anything we face. He wraps us in His wings, in the feathers of His love, and covers us. We are bigger, not because of who we are, but because of who covers us. That is His promise—He will protect us under the shadow of His wings.
Let us be assured today, just as God was with Samson, He is with us. Samson had his flaws. He made mistakes. But God still used him to fight the Philistines. And when he lost his strength and faced death, he brought down more enemies in his final act than he did in his entire life. Go read the story. It's powerful.
So whatever lion is roaring in your life right now, remember this—our God is greater. Be bold. Stand strong in your faith. And look again, even at the places that once terrified you. There may be honey there. God can bring sweetness out of sorrow, power out of weakness, and victory out of fear.
Do not be ruled by fear. Go forward with the power of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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