Samson was conceived in the womb of his previously barren mother. And why did God choose to open her womb at that time? It was because Israel needed a leader (a Judge) to deal with the Philistines. As is the typical pattern in the book of Judges, Israel had done evil in the sight of the Lord, the Lord had delivered them into the hands of an enemy race (the Philistines), and now it was time for God to raise up a Judge (Samson) to deliver them from that enemy race.

At first glance, this all sounds good, doesn’t it? But here’s the thing: According to Judges 13:1, Samson’s conception in his mother’s womb only came after the Philistines had oppressed Israel for 40 years! For that matter, even after Samson was born, it would be several more years before he reached an age where he could actually fight the Philistines. The Bible doesn’t tell us precisely what age that was, but Samson’s first dealings with the Philistines took place as part of the circumstances surrounding his intended wedding to a Philistine girl (Judges 14:1-20). Most likely, then, Samson was 20 or so years old at the time of the story, give or take a few years either way. So, by doing the math, we come up with a period of approximately 60 years in which the people of Israel were oppressed by the Philistines.

Now, I used to read such stories in the Bible and jump right over the 60 years to get to the part about Samson slaying all the Philistines. At this point in my life, however, I’ve lived through some difficult experiences that have radically changed my perspective and caused me to think some different thoughts about the story of Samson. A couple of those thoughts are wrapped up in the following questions:

Question #1: How many Israelites died during the 40-60 years of Philistine oppression, never having seen God’s deliverance through Samson?

Question #2: By the time Samson started fighting Philistines, had the Israelites who were alive when the Philistine oppression had begun and were still living given up on God ever sending their deliverance?

Let’s say that you were one of those Israelites who asked God to deliver your nation from the Philistines, but you died before Samson came along. On your death bed, what would your level of faith have been? I can assure you that there are people out there right now who have lost faith in God due to the fact that years have now passed, even decades, and they haven’t seen Him move concerning their prayer requests.

That’s why, Christian, the next time you talk with someone who is honest enough to admit that they no longer have faith in God, you should take the time to ask about their reason. What you’ll find is that many of these people have stories of disappointment to tell. They didn’t become faithless overnight; it only happened after years of what they felt were unanswered requests.

You see, even as we can thank God anytime a Samson bursts onto the scene to deliver oppressed people, we can also acknowledge that there are instances in which God’s deliverance never comes to certain people during their earthly lives. Needless to say, to be forced to live your life as an undelivered person calls for the highest level of faith and trust in God. Job was such a person. He said, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15, N.K.J.V. emphasis mine). Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were such people as well. They told Nebuchadnezzar, “…our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up” (Daniel 3:17-18, N.K.J.V., emphasis mine).

I don’t know why God doesn’t always send the deliverance, and I don’t know why He sometimes sends it so late that its impact seems to get lost in all the years. Does He love us? Yes. Will He bring good out of allowing us to remain in our state of oppression? Yes. Will the Christian receive more eternal rewards for having to endure the oppression? Yes. Will God’s purposes triumph over Satan’s purposes in the end? Yes. Nevertheless, none of these “Yes” answers can fully relieve the earthly heartbreak you feel at getting terrorized by some “Philistine” for years and years even as you pray every day, asking God for deliverance.

And so, what is the hard truth that we need to learn? It’s this: Sometimes God either doesn’t send the Calvary at all or it rides in too late to do you any earthly good. This is a truth you’ll never hear from the “health-and-wealth” “prosperity” preachers of our day because they only talk about faith for deliverance, never faith for disappointment or faith for death. The reality is, though, that faith for disappointment and even death is called for in the blank spaces that we find hidden between all the instances of deliverance in the Bible. We just have to retrain our brains to start noticing those spaces.