Every child loves the legends of Hercules for his power and strength! This obsession with physical strength dates to the ancient Olympic Games, where wrestling matches determined the strongest man alive. Since 1977, the presumed strongest men in the world have competed in the World’s Strongest Man to crown the strongest of the strong. Oleksii Novikov broke the world record in the partial deadlift at the 2020 show with an amazing 1,185 lbs.

Judges 13-14 – Misused Strength

If there had been a Bible’s Strongest Man contest, Sampson would have easily won it with supernatural strength. In Judges 13, Samson’s story begins as Gideon’s did. The Israelites were under the thumb of a foreign enemy: the Philistines. After years of oppression, the Angel of the Lord commissioned a new deliverer for His people—Samson. He slayed a lion with his bare hands and destroyed an entire army of Philistines using only a donkey’s jawbone.

Samson’s life is a study in contradiction—a man endowed with supernatural strength whose feats belong to the world of children’s fantasy heroes. Yet that exceptional strength and power, corrupted and forfeited by his moral weakness, reduced him to a tragically pitiful weakling. But when he was weakest, the Lord used Samson in the mightiest act of his extraordinary life. Samson is mentioned in the Bible’s “Hall of Faith” (Hebrews 11:32). By contrast, he was a man of moral weakness who made many mistakes that should warn anyone who plays with fire and expects not to get burned. 

The Kingdom Coach and Athlete recognize the profound significance of leaning on God’s strength rather than relying solely on their own power. They embrace God’s divine will rather than their own understanding.