Judges 13:2 And there was a certain man"...."whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not. 3 And the angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman, and said"..."thou shalt conceive, and bear a son. 12 And Manoah said".... "How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him? 13 And the angel of the Lord said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware. 14 She may not eat of any thing that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: all that I commanded her let her observe.
This passage of scripture teaches us the importance of managing the blessings of God according to His will. In the above instance, the wife of Manoah was barren, and because of the goodness of God, they were promised the blessing of a child. But instead of going out on a limb, and attempting to raise the child according to conventional wisdom, Manoah and his wife humbly entreated God for His knowledge and direction in the management of the blessing they were about to receive, and God responded by giving them instructions on how Samson should be raised, in addition to specific dietary stipulations that were to be diligently followed during the term of the pregnancy.
This experience of Manoah and his wife, in seeking God for wisdom to manage His blessings, has very important lessons for the Christian, for it is often the case that after God has blessed us, we go about trying to administer the blessings independent of God who gave them in the first place, and it is often the case that we thereby make shipwreck of what could have otherwise been a tremendous benefit. Whenever God sees fit to bless us, whether in the temporal or spiritual realm, our first response should be in the tenor of Manoah's words: "How shall we order the child", for when this is done in a meek and teachable spirit, God is then able to guide us into wise paths, so that the blessing may be multiplied and His name glorified. Let's read:
Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. 7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil. 8 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.
This is what Joseph did after God revealed to pharaoh and himself that seven years of plenty would be followed by seven years of extreme drought. After giving the interpretation of the dream, Joseph was given the task of managing the blessings of the seven plentiful years, and beyond the shadow of a doubt, he must have consulted the Lord for wisdom and guidance in how to preserve seed and grain for 14 years, in an age when commercial refrigerators and air condition units were not even on the horizon. God must have shown Joseph ways and means of how the blessings He was about to bestow could be preserved and properly managed for such a long period of time, and thus the entire experience of Joseph's wise management under God, contains lessons of critical importance for all Christians. Let's read:
Genesis 41:47 And in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls. 48 And he gathered up all the food of the seven years, which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which was round about every city, laid he up in the same. 49 And Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left numbering; for it was without number. 53 And the seven years of plenteousness, that was in the land of Egypt, were ended. 54 And the seven years of dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said: and the dearth was in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.
Whenever God sees fit to bless His people, the first response and the foremost concern should be how to manage those blessings according to His will, and in seeking to do so, God must be consulted again and again, on an ongoing basis, lest satan infuse his own diabolical methods, ideas, strategies, and so-called logical reasoning, and thereby steal our blessings from under our very feet. This he has done time and time again, and therefore Christians should be wary of his devices, and thus we should put our entire trust in The one who blessed us in the first place.
We therefore end with a passage of scripture which encourages us to wait upon God in every situation of life, seeking for His guidance, wisdom, and discretion in managing all the affairs of life, and we will discover that success will replace failures, and solutions will replace problems, for there is nothing in heaven or earth that God does not have a complete understanding of. Let's read:
Psalm 37:4 Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. 5 Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. 6 And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.
May The Lord add His blessing to the study and practice of His every word. God bless!