MERRY MONDAY BY PARRIS
“Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done mighty deeds, killed the two sons of Ariel of Moab. He also went down and killed a lion in the middle of a pit on a snowy day.” 2 Samuel 23:20
Have you’ve ever had a unpropitious day? One that would not be favorable or you were in the wrong place at the wrong time. I think all of us could remember those not so great days. But sometimes in the midst of the pit, something courageous happens. I must admit I have passed up this verse in the Bible many a time. Benaiah was one of David’s mighty men who not only killed a lion but killed it in a pit on a snowy day. Whatever happened in that pit, a mighty man emerged. During our Bible School days, Frank came home from the chicken ranch job to say he fell into the chicken manure pit because the pump had shorted out the night before. When we look back at the “chicken ranch days” (which we do a lot!) God was building something courageous within! What do you do when you encounter a pit? What do you do in the unpropitious day?
Recently I finished a quick excerpt from the book “Chase the Lion” by Mark Batterson. In it he said, “Your greatest regret at the end of your life will be the lions you didn’t chase. You will look back longingly on risks not taken, opportunities not seized, and dreams not pursued. Stop running away from what scares you most and start chasing the God-ordained opportunities that cross your path.”
In Proverbs 26:13 it says, “The slothful man saith, “There is a lion in the way; a lion is in the streets”. Christians can get themselves so worked up that we actually paint or imagine there is a lion out there. God puts us in very difficult positions because he is out to get all the glory. I pray you can chase your lion and jump right where all the action is and let God change the world through you. It’s time to jump in the pit and tackle your fears!
Penny Pulpit has a great quote, “Man is not made by sunny hours. Strong men are made by shadows not by sunshine, by storm and not by calm. It may be the lion of drink, or the lion of lust, or the lion of ungoverned temper. The longer that lion lies lurking within unslain the stronger and the more ferocious he will become. He who in the unpropitious day, the unfavorable hour, the inconvenient moment slays the lion, first within himself, which threatens to destroy his own life, and then in the midst of the people which menaces the peace, comfort, happiness of men, shall receive even in this world a thousand fold and in the world to come life everlasting.”