Chase the Lions in Your Life
The following thoughts are derived from a book entitled “Chase the Lion.”
The story of Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant warrior from Kabzeel, is recorded in II Samuel 23:20.
Put yourself in Benaiah’s sandals. Your vision is obscured by falling snow and frozen breath. Out of the corner of your eye, you detect movement. Pupils dilate. Muscles flex. Adrenaline rushes. It’s a prowling lion stalking its prey—you.
For some inexplicable reason the lion turns and runs away. Benaiah tracks him in the snow until he comes to the edge of a pit. The ground has given way under the weight of the 500 pound lion and he had fallen in. Benaiah peers down into the pit. A large pair of yellow cat eyes glare back.
Benaiah backs away, turns toward the pit, runs, and jumps in. There is a defining roar and bloodcurdling warriors yell from the pit. Doubtless the lion has a manwich to dine on.
Unexpectedly a human form slowly emerges from the pit. It is the warrior from Kabzeel, the victor. Claw marks crisscross his bloody frame.
You are not likely to face a lion under those conditions. But you’ve got to admit, “I killed a lion in a pit on a snowy day” looks very impressive on your résumé, especially if you’re applying for a bodyguard position with the king of Israel. Benaiah not only landed his dream job as King David’s bodyguard, but his life exceeded his wildest dreams. Benaiah climbed the military chain of command all the way to the top, becoming commander in chief of Israel’s army. Way to go, Ben.
In every life comes potential life changing challenges. A time to go big or go home. You have to venture or vegetate. Some readers are old enough to recall such a transitional moment. Hopefully you took the road less traveled and a dream came true.
Fear has kept many from fulfilling their God-sized dream.
God’s game plan for us is to play offense. Pursue with a passion God’s will for your life. You may venture and fail, but you can always do nothing and fail even worse.
Find God’s will and go after it like a lion-chaser. If after constructive thought and a prayerful search you determine God’s will let nothing hold you back from an all out effort to fulfill your dream.
When everything is said and done, God isn’t going to say, “Well said,” “Well thought,” or “Well planned.” There is one measuring stick: “Well done, good and faithful servant!”
Take as your mantra, “Thy will be done,” and go for it.
Anticipation, Frustration, Realization
The crucifixion scenario involved several days.
As a prelude to Friday, Thursday has earned a title indicating its involvement in the happenings. It is known as Maundy Thursday. The word “Maundy” is derived from the Latin word “mandatum” meaning “command,” and this word is the origin of the English “mandate.” Jesus made the mandate telling his followers: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13: 34, 35
On the evening of Thursday Jesus gathered to celebrate what is called the Lord’s Supper. He gave His followers the command.
Friday before Sunday earned the title Good Friday. It can only be seen as a good Friday in retrospect. From the vantage point of Sunday’s resurrection Friday is seen to be good, only because of what it enabled on Sunday.
There is a life cycle that played out during those days. We all experience the cycle. The three phases are: ANTICIPATION, FRUSTRATION, REALIZATION.
The disciples experienced them very dramatically. They had great anticipation. Jesus was everything for which they long hoped. He was their champion, the ultimate victor. They anticipated He was the one who would deliver them and restore Israel. Anticipation was on a mountain top high.
Then!
Frustration pushed anticipation off stage and took center stage. The crucifixion resulted in Jesus’ death and with it all they had anticipated died.
Frustration reigned supreme, gleefully. It cast a shroud of gloom over all they had anticipated. He was affirmed to be dead by the chief officer in charge of the execution as well as the high court of the time. All involved said He was dead. Death’s dirge sounded clearly.
But wait, there’s more. Realization rose with Sunday morning’s sun. Hopes were revived with certainty. Abundant life abounded. He is alive. This reality exceeded any anticipation they had previously. Fulfillment is overflowing.
Sing it, fortissimo, HE IS ALIVE! Say it, sing it, shout it, HE IS ALIVE.
What the apostles aspired to pales in light of what they now were to experience.
Now in light of this ultimate realization, flash back to Thursday and the commandment He left them and us to: “love one another.” Out of gratitude for all these blessings we can show our love for and devotion to Jesus by obeying His command and love one another.
Dark Clouds Forming
What time is it? It is time to pray.
I have tried to live as a realistic optimist. Looking for the good in all things has been my standard throughout life, I have sought God’s will in all things and I still do. I must concede that it has become increasingly difficult to find the good in current affairs.
Foreboding storm clouds have gathered on all foreign fronts, internal strife floods our streets, and chaos seems to prevail in our legislative halls.
The prophet Isaiah spoke of an ominous era:
“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” Isaiah 5: 20
Evidences are we are there. Just a few indications are the complexities regarding former President Trump, the China/Taiwan threats, the coalition of Russia/China/Iran, the war in Ukraine, the Tennessee three disruption, the economic uncertainty, our open borders, the lack of leadership locally and nationally, and an undercover government, are but a few of our challenges. All the while this laughed about, winked at, and refusal of admission of pending calamity.
Woe is pronounced by God when such an hour comes.
I found this commentary of such an era based on Isaiah 51: 12:
“How often do we look at the difficulties in life and the people that threaten us with pain and problems, and start to sink into an abyss of fear, a seemingly bottomless pit of terror of the shocking things of which we know that fallen man is capable?
Our home and happiness come under threat, our comfort and character are the target of their fierce arrows, our family and friends, our safety and security, and even our work and witness for the Lord seems to be the only target at which they are aiming their cruel condemnation and fiery darts of contempt and censure – and as a result our peace and contentment is shredded into distress and confusion.
But like the people of Israel, we too are to hearken to the voice of the Lord. We are to look to the Rock of our salvation. We who have trusted in Christ as Savior are to remember the many precious promises He has made towards us, and we are also to recall countless times that God has defended and comforted His people Israel in their distress, knowing that His grace is the same toward His people, the Church, as it was in ancient past.”
What this means is things may not always be alright, but those who follow the Lord are going to be alright. We must not understand that to mean believers will be exempted when difficult times, but that they will experience His grace all the way to the grave, and thereafter share in His eternal glory.
What time is it? It is time to pray and become expressive. His grace is sufficient.
Overheard in an Orchard
“Said the Robin to the Sparrow,
‘I should really like to know
Why these anxious human beings
Rush around and worry so.’
Said the Sparrow to the Robin,
‘Friend, I think that it must be
That they have no Heavenly Father
Such as cares for you and me.’” -Elizabeth Cheney
Imagine Jesus sitting on a boulder with a crowd gathered around. Understanding their plight and anxiety He begins to teach them:
“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? (Matthew 6: 25 – 27)
Now look in a mirror. Looking back at you is a person to whom His words apply. Let this phrase resonate in your mind, “…do not worry about your life…”
In essence invest your heart in heaven and the dividends resulting will be quiet enough to provide for you.
A Worth/Roper Survey last year found that among the things that produce anxiety in Americans are the following: making a wrong choice with major investments; having major dental work or surgery; being audited by IRS; speaking in public; being outdoors alone at night; getting fat; being pulled over for speeding; seeing one’s spouse flirt; doing your own taxes; being caught in a lie by a close friend; having a credit card declined in public; and using a computer. Want to add your own list to those?
Jesus’ promises and provisions are stamped on that list “Invalid Worry.”
Sure, some bad things will happen to you like they do to everyone. Having problems and challenges does not make you stand out from others. Everyone does. Everyone.
Unfortunately not everyone has Jesus as their helpful Lord. If you do that makes you stand out. How you respond to your needs enables you to bear witness to the sufficiency of Jesus. This is especially true if you give Him credit for His blessings.
The word “worry” is from the Greek word “merimnao,” which means: “to be anxious about, to worry, be concerned for.” Jesus said don’t do it.
Jesus said, “Do not worry” – this is a present imperative with the negative, a command forbidding worry. It is a command.
It was left to one who had a plethora of needs to tell us what to do about them. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God….” (Philippians 4:6) Do it!
Think about the conversation between the Robin and the Sparrow.
The Value of Worry
“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” Matthew 6:25
Jesus said, “Do not worry” – this is a present imperative with the negative, a command forbidding worry. It could not be said more firmly by a more reliable person, so, don’t do it.
The Apostle Paul expressed it this way: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” (Philippians 4:6)
“Be anxious for nothing”- the Greek construction forbids the continuance of an action already habitually going on. The word “nothing” is the Greek word medeis, it literally means: “not even one thing.”
Worry is unbelief! It is a failure to trust God to care for us.
Don’t confuse concern with worry. It is proper to be concerned and work to resolve the concern with faith in the Lord for guidance. This is done with confidence and peace. It shows your opinion of God. To worry or not shows your opinion of God. Don’t try to excuse your worry by falsely calling it concern.
The Psalmist got it right, “And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; For You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.” (Psalms 9:10)
“Those who know Your name” means those who know God’s character.
The value of worry is zero, nada, nul, ezer, nunda, rien, nichts, semmi, niente. Any way you say it it’s the same, nothing, you accomplish nothing by worrying.
The better you know God the less you worry. If you habitually worry you need to get to know God better.
There is zero value in worry. It does nothing good for us. An average person’s worry is focused on: 40% – things that will never happen; 30% – things about the past that can’t be changed; 12% – things about criticism by others, mostly untrue; 10% – about health, which gets worse with stress; 8% – about real problems that will be faced.
Now consider, “Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?” Matthew 6:27
This can be applied two ways. One is dimensional. A cubit is about 18 inches. Who can add such to their height by worrying? The second relates to your life-span. You can’t add years to your life by worrying. However, you can shorten it and along the way cause all sorts of problems.
Frame this and hang it prominently in your memory hall. “You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You. Trust in the LORD forever, For in YAH, the LORD, is everlasting strength.” (Isaiah 26:3-4)