Week 1: Locking Eyes with Your Lion
I. Locking Eyes with Your Lion
A. 2 Samuel 23:20-21 – There was also Benaiah son of Jehoida, 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 Egyptian hand and killed him with it. (NLT)
1. Normal People Don’t Chase Lions!
a. Core Conviction: God is in the business of strategically positioning us in the right place at the right time. A sense of destiny is our birthright as followers of Christ.
i. Philippians 1:6 – For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. (NASB)
b. God is awfully good at getting us where He wants us to go. But here’s the catch: The right place often seems like the wrong place, and the right time often seems like the wrong time.
i. Isaiah 55:8-9 – “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”(NASB)
c. Benaiah’s Next Scene
i. David promotes Benaiah in charge of his body guard (2 Samuel 23:23)
d. Point: God is in the resume-building business. He is always using past experience to prepare us for future opportunities. But those God-given opportunities often come disguised as man-eating lions.
i. Jeremiah 29:11 – “For I know the plans that I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.”
e. Taking No Risks is the Greatest Risk of All
i. Mark 5:34 – Daughter, you took a risk of faith, and now you’re healed and whole… (Message)
ii. Luke 19:26 – He said, “That’s what I mean; risk your life and get more than you ever dreamed of. Play it safe and end up holding the bag. (Message)
iii. The risky life of David (1, 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles)
2. No Guts, No Glory
a. Sins of Commission and Sins of Omission
i. 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.
ii. Lion chasers are always on the lookout for God-ordained opportunities.
iii. Coraticum – Courage!
B. Survival Guide for Lion Chasers
1. Simple Definition of Success: Do the best you can with what you have where you are.
a. Spiritual maturity is seeing and seizing God-ordained opportunities.
b. Seize the Opportunity: When you cross paths with a lion, are you going to run away like a scaredy-cat or are you going to grab life by the mane?
* This FOCUS Universtiy Ministry Bible Study is based on Mark Batterson’s book In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day. Direct quotes are in italics above.
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