Judges 14:1-4 And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife. Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well. But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

There are times in Scripture when God does something that is out of the realm of the normal to accomplish His purposes. These exceptions are never to be understood as the “normal” will of God. Here in our time together this morning we find one of those examples. God’s clear revelation for His children regarding the covenant of marriage is that it is to be entered into by two believers. We are strongly admonished to not be unequally yoked. Samson here, according to the natural mind, is “clearly in the flesh”. He is pursuing one of the daughters of the Philistines! Red flags galore. His parents are correct in concluding that this is not right according to Scripture. But what they did not know was that it was of the LORD, because He sought an occasion against the Philistines, for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

Beloved, there will be times in our walk when we are apt to see things being done by others that are clearly contrary to the normal grain of Scripture, but are in fact mysteriously designed by God for His higher purposes. These exceptions are not the norm, but they are found throughout Scripture. What does this mean? God’s ways are not always like our ways, and God can certainly move outside the realm of what we deem normal. So when you see something going on that is clearly unusual or outside the realm of God’s revealed will, in most cases, a word of rebuke or reproof is in order. But in other rare cases, you may in fact be attempting to thwart the higher purpose or plan of God. God grant us wisdom and discernment for those times when He “colors outside the lines” of our neatly packaged thinking. Selah