What if the life you really want….
Jan 28th, 2007 by Jeff
“What if the life you really want, and the future God wants for you, is hiding right now in your biggest problem, your worst failure… your greatest fear?” - Mark Batterson {theatrechurch.com}
2 Samuel 23:20-23 (New Living Translation)
“There was also Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant warrior from Kabzeel. He did many heroic deeds, which included killing two champions of Moab. Another time, on a snowy day, he chased a lion down into a pit and killed it. Once, armed only with a club, he killed a great Egyptian warrior who was armed with a spear. Benaiah wrenched the spear from the Egyptians hand and killed him with it. Deeds like these made Benaiah as famous as the Three mightiest warriors. He was more honored than the other members of the Thirty, though he was not one of the Three. And David made him captain of his bodyguard.”
Something that I often think about is “What does God want me to be doing?” I thought about this during Community College, Bible College, post-college, while working with New Mission Systems International and even today. The question seems to haunt me at times, especially since I just can’t grasp an answer. The quote above by Mark Batterson and the verse above have me looking at my life with a different perspective than I have had before. Could the things that I fear the most, could the things that I fear falure in be the directions I need to head in? Benaiah chased a Lion. Now that is scary, and I even think. “If the Lion is running away, why would you be so crazy as to chase it?”
So why is this verse there, why is this really all we know about Benaiah? Could God have a lesson for us? I think he does. And that lesson is about facing our fears. Benaiah later became King David’s bodyguard. And it all started with Benaiah facing his fears and moving forward (literally) when everyone else would have ran away.
So now I am asking myself “What is my Lion?” What should I be chasing down?
Pslam 37:4
Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
This thought links back to a previous article I have written called “What is our purpose?” And based on Psalm 37 we know that when we follow God He grants us our desire, our passion, our drive. So I am looking at my life, and wondering what are the HUGE dreams that I have? Especially the ones that seem impossible, or freightening. I highly suspect that I have a Lion I need to chase but will I figure out what it is and have the courage to chase it? I mean what if I fail? That certainly doesn’t sound like something I want to fail at. Lions can be, well…. vicious. So I think I am inching closer to finding what God would have me be doing, but I am not there yet. I am looking out into the wild, looking for Lions to chase, praying that God grants me courage, wisdom and understanding.
So the challenge to myself and to others at this point is: “Are we not doing what God would have us be doing because we are afraid, or because we don’t want to fail? Does God have something great that you could be doing, but it involves needing to chase a Lion into a pit on a snowy day?”
http://www.thebristows.com is an OpenID for Jeff Bristow
I have begun to wonder if the writer of this article possibly knows the great work God wants him to do and is fearful of chasing the lion.
[…] guess I need to find that Lion and begin chasing it, and not worry so much about my abilities, God will provide what is needed for […]
Hey man,
Glad to see that you have been mulling over the whole Lion thing. From what I gather, there is an underground movement of Lion Chasers out there.
Couple of things:
I shared this thought with Curtis awhile back: We don’t always kill the lion. That doesn’t mean that we fail.
The center of God’s will is the un-safest place to be. Lions, tigers and bears are all part of that. Be who God is calling you to be. I have tried being who I call myself to be and it really falls short of what God has for me.
Praying for you, friend!
Hey Tony,
Thanks for your comments. I guess am trying to figure out who God is calling me to be. And trying to figure out where this Lion could actually be hiding….
[…] I have written about previously. Earlier this year I wrote on this blog an article called ‘What if the life you really want…‘ , and I have been dealing with the concepts I discussed in that posting in more practical […]
[…] that I have written about previously. Earlier this year I wrote on this blog an article called ‘What if the life you really want…‘ , and I have been dealing with the concepts I discussed in that posting in more practical terms […]