Judges 16:20–And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him.
The Lord sometimes teaches us basic principles through drastic circumstances.  For example I work harder to try and fix issues in relationships with people I am close to, because I have lost people who I’ve loved dearly in my family unexpectedly.  Those experiences have taught me how to fight procrastination even in small things, because I hate to live with regret, especially in relationships.
Recently I have been trying to help a family member reconcile with the other.  Yet the pride of presumption is keeping one from reconciling with the other.  Presuming that reconciling is not important, and that the person will be around “forever” to make things right.  The pride that we are in control, and the presumption that things happen when we need it to, is how pride makes us delusional and very presumptuous…(Romans 2:4)
Though we all fall to the temptation to procrastinate, the habit of presuming that everything is going to happen according to what we think, could be a result of not being “surprised” in life, whether good or bad!  That the steps of our life are not ordered by our arrogance or fear, but by the Lord.  Which should humble us enough to consider we are not in control of anything, especially the gift or people we are given to rightly steward over…(Psalm 37:23, Ephesians 4:7-8)
Samson’s life was a great example of how God ordered his steps, yet he allowed his past “successes” to make him presumptuous.  His mentality caused him to forget that it had been God’s grace that had made him effective for His purpose, not himself.  So the more he compromised with his wife, and then Delilah, while staying effective, the time would came where he could not do what he once did…(Judges 14:15-17, Judges 16:1-20)
Like Samson, the gifts we have been given is just that, a gift.  So the Lord must be the One we are subject to, when it comes to using or “taking care” of them.  That we have been gifted for Christ’s purpose and glory, and though we may become extremely effective with it, we cannot forget we can lose it.  That reality should give us a healthy fear, that we have no control over anything, even what we “get used to” having as a gift.  God wants our effectiveness and blessings to provoke a deeper humility and gratitude, rather than an arrogance that presumes control and ability. (James 4:13-16)
In His Love, Ld