Reading Mark Batterson’s book again, In A Pit With a Lion On A Snowy Day.
Read that book about two years ago when I first saw it at a Barnes and Nobles bookstore in Tampa, FL.
Mark Batterson is the lead pastor of one of the fastest-growing churches in America, the National Community Church, which meets in five different locations in the Washington D.C. area.
He talks about the story of Benaiah, one of King David’s mighty men, captain of his body guard and who, eventually became the commander of David’s powerful army.
The book was based on 2 Samuel 23:20-21, a text that you and I could easily read fast since the chapter basically talks about King David. Though Benaiah’s account was rather short, his exploit was one we can’t ignore because he didn’t run away from a lion in a snowy day.
Instead, Benaiah chased the lion, even went down the pit where he went on to kill the king of the beast before crawling out in victory.
Now here are some quotable quotes, which really made sense to me if I wanna be a serious “lion-chaser” all my life.
* Our calling is much higher than simply running away from what’s wrong. We’re called to chase lions–look for opportunities in our problems and obstacles, and take risks to read for God’s best.
* When we don’t have the guts to step out in faith and chase lions, then God is robbed of the glory that rightfully belongs to Him.
* Spiritual maturity is seeing and seizing God-ordained opportunities.
* God is in the business of strategically positioning us in the right place at the right time.
It isn’t normal to find lion chasers in real life. It isn’t normal to find someone come face to face with a lion and end up victorious. It isn’t normal to find a person who refuses to cower down in the face of tremendous adversity.
Bottomline? Mark was admonishing us to live a “lion-chasing” life. A life where we meet adversities, challenges and difficulties of life head-on with an attitude that refuses to back down.
As Pastor Mark stated also in his book, “The more we grow, the bigger God should get. And the bigger God gets, the smaller our lions become.”