Coming back from the United States more than a year ago, I bought a book by Mark Batterson, pastor of the National Community Church in Washington D.C.
The title of his book is quite long—In the Pit With A Lion On Snowy Day—but I promise you, once you get hold of that book and start reading it, it will make you realize that God has ordained opportunities for you to seize, dreams for you to chase and “lions you ought to kill”.
The book takes off from one obscure passage in the Scripture of the Old Testament where Benaiah, one of David’s mighty men, managed to chase a lion during a snowy day and killed it in a pit.
Ever heard of someone chasing a lion in a pit on a snowy day? That’s rather strange, isn’t it?
But anyway, as I was reading the book, I encountered two words, which I believe are vital in chasing our own “lions” grabbing God’s ordained opportunities and seizing the dreams God has placed in our life—reverse engineering.
Looking at the dictionary, I found that the words reverse engineering is synonymous to the words redesign, remodel, renovate, renew and transform.
Now it dawned on me that when you give your life to Christ, God is in the process of reverse engineering our lives as well, beginning with our mind.
Yes, through Christ, He has cleansed us from our past, our mistakes, failures and sins, but after giving us a new and clean slate, He makes sure our minds go through the reverse engineering process.
Romans 12:2 says, 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Due to our family background, the influences we got from our parents, family and friends, the world we live in, our values and beliefs had been shaped to where it is today.
Some of these influences may be harmless but others could be harmful, which is why Romans 12:2 says, we need to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.
I grew up thinking of myself as a nobody, someone who won’t really amount to anything.
Yet, when I became a Christian, I realized that God isn’t apathetic, but He cares for me and my future. Today, having been married for nearly five years to a beautiful and loving wife, we are blessed with two wonderful kids, and is part of spiritual family that totally values relationships and has nurtured me in my walk with God.
I can’t say I’ve arrived or am perfect, but having been a Christian for 17 years now, I could say that God is continually doing the reverse engineering in my life.
He continues to renew my mind, He refreshes me when I’m down and remodels me to fit into His plans and purpose for my life.
Are you confused? Discouraged? Or losing hope? Good news! Get your life reverse engineered by God. When He promises, He delivers because He is faithful.
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