"Grab Opportunity By the Mane"

from the book “In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day,” by Mark Batterson

Sunday, February 3, 2008/ Esther 4:12-16; Colossians 4:5

"Chase the Lion" Sermon Series

Introduction: Today is the end of our series, “Chase the Lion.” This series has been about how we can see our fears and failures as opportunities for God to work in and through us. This is because lion chasers don’t retreat. They attack. Lion chasers aren’t reactors. They are creators. Lion chasers refuse to live their lives in a defensive posture. They are actively looking for ways to make a difference.

One example of this is our culture. If you look around, there are many aspects of the culture I’m sure you don’t like. Even more, there are many aspects of the culture that God doesn’t approve of. As we see the culture, it is easy for us to criticize it. But instead of criticizing, we should try to do things that create a new culture; we should try and impact it in a way that changes it. We should try and come up with better alternatives; better schools; better businesses; better opportunities.

This morning I want to talk about the fear of missed opportunities. As the old saying goes: “Stop cursing the darkness and start lighting some candles!”

I. Seizing the Opportunity- (Esther 4:12-5:3)

a. Open doors- STORY: There is a true story of a lawyer named,

John, who lived in Washington D. C. He had a well established law practice and was making good money. But there was a problem; there was something nagging at him. He realized that he didn’t want to practice law anymore. Instead, he wanted to make movies. This wasn’t just a crazy whim or a mid-life crisis. He believed, it was put in his heart by God. So he went to talk to his pastor, and together they prayed for God to open a door of opportunity if this was what God wanted him to do.

A few months went by, when one day John was reading the Sunday paper. He came across an article about human trafficking in Uganda. The story told about how little girls were (and still are) being lured into a life of sexual slavery. John was moved to want to do something about this. He went to his computer and Googled “Uganda.” This Google search led him to a professor who was leading a trip to Uganda to shoot documentary films.

Now, at this point he could have thought it just a coincidence, and he could have left it all alone. But instead, he applied for this program, and even though he had no experience, he was accepted by this professor to go on the trip. This was not a coincidence. John could see God’s fingerprints all over the events.

But there is more. One week before he was to leave on his trip, he was invited to a film industry party. While at the party, he found out that the Ugandan ambassador to the U.S. was there. And not only did John get to meet the ambassador, but he found out that she was a Christian. As he talked with her about the documentary he wanted to make, she got so excited about it that she invited him to meet with her the next day at the Ugandan Embassy.

There is no way that John could have ever gotten an appointment with the Ugandan Ambassador on his own. But with God’s help, the ambassador was the one who initiated it. So John meets with the ambassador, and then heads off to Uganda. He was there three weeks shooting his documentary film, and then spent 3 months editing it. After that he premiered his film, titled “Sting.” From that premiere, he was able to get a movie deal for his film, and asked to be the assistant director and producer on this $20 million feature film!!

If God can turn fisherman into disciples and leaders, and turn shepherds into kings, God can turn a lawyer into a movie producer.

b. Being ready for the opportunity- The biggest dreams that God

gives to us often start as the smallest opportunities. John could have easily overlooked the newspaper article; John could have disregarded the trip to Uganda put on by the professor; John could have ignored many things, and made excuses why he shouldn’t have pursued this dream. But in the end, he recognized the opportunity, and seized it, letting God bring it to fruition.

Last week I talked about how our ultimate destiny is determined by whether or not we seize the God-ordained opportunities that God presents to us. If we seize the opportunities, it starts one domino falling, which creates another domino to fall, and then another, and then another. It creates a chain reaction of opportunities that allows us to fulfill the dream God places in our heart and mind.

EX. In the Old Testament, in the book of Esther, we have the story of Esther. Esther became the queen after her cousin Mordecai took advantage of an opportunity by recommending Esther to become the queen. By this suggestion, Esther was brought to the king, and ultimately made the queen. But then a man named Haman became the head of all the officials, and required everyone to bow down to him. Mordecai refused, because he was a Jew, and would only bow down to God. This angered Haman, and caused him to want to destroy the Jews. Mordecai found out about this plan, and told Esther that she needed to bring this to the king’s attention. But how was she to do this? Nobody could see the king without the king’s summoning them. So she asked Mordecai and all the Jews to pray for an opportunity. Sure enough, an opportunity arose. READ Esther 5:1-3.

“On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the palace, in front of the king's hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne in the hall, facing the entrance. ² When he saw Queen Esther standing in the court, he was pleased with her and held out to her the gold scepter that was in his hand. So Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter.

³ Then the king asked, ‘What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be given you.’”…..Esther prayed to God for an opportunity. And Esther took advantage of the opportunity when it came.

BUT, if we miss those opportunities, we short-circuit God’s plan for our lives. And yet, we shouldn’t fret, because God gives us second chances; God can overcome our faults and failures. All you have to do is think about Moses, who had to flee because of his killing an Egyptian guard. God again opened the door of opportunity to Moses, and gave him a second chance.

To be a lion chaser is to be an opportunist. To be a lion chaser is to be focused on God-ordained opportunities, not on the problems. Lion chasers don’t look for excuses of why not to do it, or on the disadvantages. They find a way of making circumstances work in their favor, because they know that God is at work in and around them, helping these circumstances come to be. LION CHASERS GRAP THE LION BY THE MANE!

But the challenge is that opportunities often come disguised as insurmountable problems. They look like 500 pound lions. They appear to be the kind of problems that you run away from, not opportunities that you seize. So we need God to put courage in us so that we won’t be intimidated by these problems; which are actually opportunities.

II. Prayer Mode vs. Survival Mode- (Psalm 5:3; Jeremiah 46:17; Colossians 4:5)

a. Expectations- In Psalm 5:3 we see the way King David started his

day: “In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.” David comes to the Lord in expectation. David lays his requests before the Lord, and waits to hear God’s response. This is important, because too often we have low expectations on our life.

The truth is, low expectations are a byproduct of prayerlessness. Now, you may say, “But pastor, I pray.” Yes, you may pray, but are you praying with faith? Are you praying in a way that would be acceptable to God, or are you praying in a very selfish way? Are you praying with God-sized expectations? The more you pray, the higher your expectations should be.

If you want to make the most of every opportunity, then you have got to “devote yourselves to prayer, and being watchful.” When you devote yourselves to prayer, you put yourself in a place, and in a state of being that allows you to be more attentive to what God has for you. You also are reminding yourself to be watchful of what opportunities are brought to you by God, and what are opportunities would not be supported by God.

When we devote ourselves to prayer, we really take the pressure off ourselves. We don’t have to manufacture the opportunities. It is God’s job to manufacture the opportunities for us. And prayer allows us to be more attuned to God’s working around us. God is preparing the good works in advance. God is leading us down the road to our destiny.

The key is to understanding that God’s timing is perfect. There is so much that we want in life. Some of what we want wouldn’t be best for us, and wouldn’t fit into the destiny God has for us. But even the wants we have that are supported by God doesn’t always fit into the right time frame. We usually want everything NOW.

If you were to look back on your life, you would discover that the greatest breakthroughs have happened because you had been in prayer with God. When you try to think of what you need to do, there will be times when you come up with some “good” ideas. But when you are in regular prayer, listening to God, and talking to God, you will be led to “God” ideas. I don’t know about you, but I would rather have one “God” idea, than a thousand good ideas!

b. Discernment- Jeremiah 46:17 is a very sad verse. It says:

“Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is only a loud noise; he has missed his opportunity.” This pharaoh ruled over one of the most advanced ancient civilizations on earth. Think about the wealth he had. Think about the resources; an entire kingdom was at his disposal. But he missed his moment. The opportunity came and went.

You may not have heard the name of Howard Schultz. In August of 1987, Howard Schultz had a big opportunity. It was the biggest decision of his life. He was presented with the opportunity to purchase a small chain of coffee shops. But the price tag was $4 million. In his autobiography, Pour Your Heart Into It, he reflects on his decision: “This is my moment.. If I don’t seize the opportunity, if I don’t step out of my comfort zone and risk it all, if I let too much time tick on, my moment will pass….” He decided to buy the chain of coffee shops. The name of the chain? STARBUCKS. And as they say, the rest is history.

Colossians 4:5 tells us: “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.” We are told to be wise in how we act. This might remind us of the concept of righteousness. We often think of righteousness as “doing nothing wrong.” But even more, righteousness is “doing something right.” Righteousness isn’t just running away from sin. Righteousness is chasing lions; it is deciding to take advantage of the God-given opportunity that is before you.

Being a lion chaser, is knowing when to be cautious, and when to throw caution to the wind. To do this, we need discernment. Discernment is that gift from God that helps you to know the difference between holding back, and moving forward. Discernment is the understanding that the conditions will never be perfect, and there is a right time to move, even if things don’t seem to be all lined up.

So here’s an important question: What dream has God given you, and why are you waiting to pursue it?

EX. You may have heard of Mark Burnett. He is the creator of the shows “Survivor” and “Apprentice.” He recently wrote a book titled “Jump In!” In this book he outlines his philosophy of business. He says: “Nothing will ever be …perfect, and nothing can be totally planned. The best you can hope for is to be about half certain of your plan and know that you and the team you’ve assembled are willing to work hard enough to overcome the inevitable problems as they arrive. And arrive they will. The only thing you can be certain of in business is that the problems you have not thought of will eventually crop up—and always at the worst times.”

Conclusion: Did you know that the average college graduate will change jobs ten times? It is also true that they will change career paths 3-5 times. This reminds us that you don’t always have to get it right the first time. But you do have to start somewhere. With this in mind, some good advice would be to try lots of different things. As you feel God’s leading in your life, move forward. If it’s not what God wants you to do, I believe it will be an opportunity that God can use to continue to direct you in the right way.

I don’t know what dream God is calling you to pursue. But I do know this, as you respond to the opportunities God puts in front of you, God will make your dream a reality. Like Esther, she put herself in the place to take advantage of an opportunity, and trusted God to open the door. LISTEN to God. TAKE ADVANTAGE of the God-given opportunities. PRAY for a discerning heart and mind. TRUST God to do great work in and through you. CHASE THE LION. Amen.

"Embrace Your Destiny"

from the book “In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day,” by Mark Batterson

Sunday, January 27, 2008/ Jonah 1:1-3; Matthew 25:14-30

"Chase the Lion" Sermon Series

Introduction: The last three weeks we have been talking about different lion chasers in the Bible: Benaiah, who literally chased a lion. David, who chased the lion of sin and failure. Peter, who chased the lion of looking foolish and stepping out for God. Being a lion chaser isn’t about having it all planned out. I’m sure that Benaiah didn’t wake up on the morning of his lion encounter with every detail worked out. Being a lion chaser is about knowing that when situations arise that can cause us fear, we turn to God to give us the courage and the ability to face it.

In life, we can have a fear of uncertainty. We know that the only guarantee about life, is that there is guaranteed uncertainty. The great minister and teacher Oswald Chambers once said: “To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways, we do not know what a day may bring forth. This is generally said with a sigh of sadness; it should rather be an expression of breathless expectation.” / We shouldn’t be sad to not know what God has for us. This should cause us great anticipation, as we wonder what God will unfold in and through our lives each day that we live.

I. The Uncertainty Principle- (Jonah 1:1-3; Philippians 4:7;

Deuteronomy 29:29; Romans 8:28)

a. Embracing uncertainty- If you want to reach your God-given

potential and fulfill your God given destiny, it will mean that sometimes you have to run away from security and chase uncertainty. But lion chasers are more afraid of lifelong regrets than temporary uncertainty. They don’t want to get to the end of their lives and have a million what-if regrets… What if I would have gone after that job… What if I would have served in that ministry…What if I would have reached out to that person…

Isn’t that what Abraham did when he left his family to pursue God’s promise? This was at a time when people didn’t venture more than 30 miles away from their home. Isn’t that what Noah did when he built the ark? Don’t forget, it took 120 years to build the ark. THEY EMBRACED THE UNCERTAINTY OF WHAT GOD WAS CALLING THEM TO DO. They didn’t need to know what was coming, because they knew that God knew; God had the plan.

In 1932, a German physicist named Werner Heisenberg won the Nobel Prize for his theory of quantum mechanics. Later, he revolutionized the scientific world. For hundreds of years, physicists believed that the universe was measurable and predictable. But then Heisenberg came up with the “uncertainty principle.” This principle says: “We cannot know the precise position and momentum of a quantum particle at the same time. Why? Because sometimes matter behaves like a particle—it appears to be in one place at one time. And sometimes matter behaves like a wave—it appears to be in several places at the same time. The imprecise measurement of initial conditions precludes the precise prediction of future outcomes.” OR, to put it in simpler terms: There will always be uncertainty.

As we come to God in faith, we understand that faith doesn’t reduce uncertainty; faith embraces uncertainty. Faith accepts that life is uncertain, but we trust in a God who is constant and unchanging. We will never have all the answers. But faith has less to do with knowing, and more to do with the beauty of wonder, and trusting. The uncertainty of life can make it more complicated, but complications don’t have to be a negative idea.

For example, before I was married, my life was fairly simple and straight forward. When I got married, my life became more complex. Then, when Tami and I had children, our lives became even more complex again. Even more, being pastor of a church complicates my life. Making money complicates my taxes. Being active complicates my schedule. But these are all GOOD complications.

A relationship with God will complicate your life, but it will complicate your life in ways it SHOULD be complicated. Sin will complicate your life, but it will complicate your life in ways that it SHOULDN’T be complicated. Your life will be complicated, the choice is whether it will be good or bad complications.

b. Unscripted moments- We think we always have to know where we

are going, and what we are to do. It’s not like Benaiah had a 25 year plan:

Step 1: Kill a lion in a pit on a snowy day.

Step 2: Apply for a job as bodyguard for King David.

Step 3: Work my way up the ranks until I become the commander in chief of

Israel’s army.

This isn’t how life works. God doesn’t expect us to have it all figured out. God doesn’t want us to try and be in control of everything we do. The truth is, THE GREATEST MOMENTS IN LIFE ARE UNSCRIPTED. Some of the best things in life are unplanned. / Think about this for a moment; some of the greatest movies, are great because they have high levels of uncertainty. This uncertainty keeps us intrigued, and on the edge of our seats. This is true of life as well. The uncertainty in our lives keeps us on the edge of our seats, trying to anticipate what comes next.

Take for a moment the passage we read from the book of Jonah. When God comes to Jonah, and tells him to go to Ninevah, this was not in Jonah’s plans; Jonah had not anticipated this. On top of this, what Jonah would experience in Ninevah was uncertain as well. He was being called to go to a “wicked city” and tell them to change their ways. How would they react to this? Would his life be in danger?

However, we can know that while faith doesn’t eliminate the uncertainty of life, it can eliminate spiritual uncertainty. Because of our faith, we can have “a peace that surpasses all understanding.” Jonah could know that God was with him in this call, and that God would work all things out for the good. In fact, as the story goes, by a little coercing from God, Jonah ends up going to Ninevah, tells them to turn from their wicked ways, and they do!

Have you ever had uncertain occurrences like this that caused you some fear? Did you run away from this call, like Jonah did at first, or did you embrace it and follow this scene that was unscripted in your mind?/ It is the sovereignty of God that gives us a sense of destiny. And it is the sense of destiny that helps us to embrace the positive and negative uncertainties that happen in our lives. God is in the business of using the unexpected circumstances of life to prepare us for future opportunities.

Life is full of unanswered questions. If your kids and grandkids are anything like my kids, they are full of questions. They want to know the origin of things. And the truth is, there are many questions they ask that I cannot answer. This is true for you and me. There are many questions we ask God that we don’t have the answer to, and might never have on this side of heaven. As Deuteronomy 29:29 says: “There are secrets the Lord God has not revealed to us.”

Even when people get answers, it doesn’t seem to be enough. For example, people hear Romans 8:28- “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Okay, we know God can use the bad in our life to bring about good. But why did this bad have to happen in the first place? This uneasy feeling is caused from both the unanswerable question, along with the unexplained experiences.

There may be uncertainty in life, but it’s not chance. Our past has meaning for our future. While our past doesn’t always make sense, it does give shape to our future. In the midst of our circumstances not always making sense, we can know that God is planning His work and working His plan. God is connecting the dots in ways that will ultimately give us a picture that makes sense. As a lion chaser, we need to humble ourselves enough to let God call the shots, and be brave enough to follow where He leads.

II. Risky Business- (Matthew 25:14-30)

a. Risk taking- This leads us into some risky business. Trusting God

will bring us into experiences that we wouldn’t plan for ourselves. But if we trust and follow God’s leading, then we will be following the advice of Mark Twain. Twain once said: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by

the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw

off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the

trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

If you were to scan the pages of the Bible, you would discover that God uses risk takers. Benaiah risked his life chasing the lion. Nehemiah risked his position in the Babylonian administration to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. Jonah risked his reputation by going to Ninevah to preach a message of change. THE MORE WILLING YOU ARE TO RISK, THE MORE GOD CAN USE YOU!

b. Story of Jason McElwain- Jason took a risk. He could have been

completely humiliated at this varsity level. He could have been overwhelmed by the fast pace. He could have been injured by the contact of the game. But he took the risk, and not only did he impact his own life, he also impacted all those who saw him play, and ultimately he affected another family!

c. Parable of the Talents- When I entered college, I entered as a

computer programming major. This was mainly because I knew that computers were the future, and that this major would help me to make a good living. But in my first computer class, I struggled to understand some of the concepts. As I reflected on this class, and what it might mean to my future, I decided computers weren’t for me as a career. So then I went into music, and ultimately got a Music Education degree.

However, while I have talent in music, this wasn’t God’s call on my life. After graduating from Cal. State Fullerton, I asked myself the question: “What does God want me to do with my life?” Even though I was approved to go into the teacher credential program at Cal. State Fullerton, I felt God was calling me to ministry. So I entered Fuller Seminary, in Pasadena.

God had given me talents, and he wanted me to take a risk in how I was going to use them. It is like the Parable of the Talents, that we read from Matthew 25:14-30. The master gave the servants the talents with the expectation that they would risk growing their talents. The master wasn’t upset with the third servant because he hadn’t grew his talent, but rather because he didn’t even seek to put it to use; he just buried it away.

Too many people are afraid to take a risk, and therefore don’t ever get to live the destiny God has for them. Nelson Mandella once said: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.” In God, we are powerful. When we take a risk with what God has called us to do, we can do powerful things. Just like Jason McElwain made a tremendous impact with his life, you and I can make a tremendous impact in the lives of others. We can’t be afraid to “embrace our destiny” and step-out in faith.

Conclusion: Good is often the enemy of great. What we are doing in our lives might be good, but it isn’t the “great” that God wants us to experience. Sometimes taking a calculated risk means giving up something that is good so you can experience something that is great. I know that between you and your destiny is one small act of courage. Where might God be calling you to take a risk? What is God putting on your heart to do, but you are not doing it for fear of failing?

If you know the Bible at all, you know that faith is a risky business. The truth is, the greatest risk is taking no risk at all. God calls us to be righteous. Righteousness is using our God-given gifts to their God-given potential. God never promised a risk-free existence. God never even promised that we would receive the rewards on this side of heaven for all the risks we take. Remember how we talked about Peter last week, stepping out of the boat to walk on the water to Jesus, but then he sank? Even though this happened, can you imagine what Peter experienced for those few moments he was walking on water?! Could you imagine how different he might have been had he not gotten out of the boat? I bet the other disciples were upset with themselves that they didn’t take the risk!

God is calling us to be His people. What God needs is for us to be lion chasers that don’t run away from evil, but have the courage to compete for the Kingdom. If you look around, you can see that there is much that we could do to improve our world if we took a risk, and acted like a lion chaser. And God is doing just that. We are feeding hungry people. We are moving in the direction of reaching out to Hispanics who don’t have a church, and who need help. We are assisting the WomenShelter of Long Beach to help women and families who have suffered from domestic violence. We are allowing the Vietnamese to meet here so that they can get the message of Jesus out to the Vietnamese speaking people. We are assisting His Nesting Place as they are working with women who are pregnant and have nowhere to go. Let us continue to be a church, and a people who take the risks God calls us to take. And by doing this, we will embrace our destiny! Amen.

“Face Your Fears”

from the book “In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day,” by Mark Batterson

Sunday, January 20, 2008; 1 Peter 3:13-15

"Chase the Lion" Sermon Series

Introduction: In the movie “The Wizard of Oz,” Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and the Tin Man meet the Lion. At first they are afraid of him, but then the tables turn.

Run the video clip…. In the end, they find out that the lion is a coward; afraid of everything, including himself! He is in need of courage.

I. The Fear of Being Foolish- (1 Corinthians 1:27)

a. Looking foolish- At first, the lion looked foolish when he revealed

his fear; pretending to be what he was not (strong and mean). But once he was HONEST, Dorothy, the Tin Man, and the Scarecrow accepted him for who he was.

EX. Have you ever had an experience where you were made to look the fool? I remember for me it was a time when I was in high school, at band camp. The camp did a slave auction to raise money, and I decided to be sold as a slave. I was pleased that the bidding went along pretty well, but ultimately, my girlfriend at the time decided to buy me (for about $40), because she didn’t want anyone else to have me do mean things. She was going to be nice to me, and not have me do anything, but then her friends reminded her that she paid a lot of money to have me as a slave, and to take advantage of the situation. She started having me do some silly things, which caused me to feel rather foolish!

And yet, to live the life God has for us, we need to have moments of foolishness. If we are going to defy the odds, we have to face our fears, and reframe our problems, take a risk, and seize those God-ordained opportunities. In doing this, however, we will look foolish to the world. But I believe that deep down inside all of us, there is a longing to do something crazy for God.

The concern to look foolish causes people to not do many things. In a poll, it was found that people’s number 1 fear is speaking in public. Their number 2 fear is death. A third fear people have is raising their hand, because they are afraid that there answer will be seen as foolishness; causing them to look foolish. Fear of foolishness also causes people to fear rejection, as well as changing jobs. AND EVEN MORE, the fear of foolishness keeps people from praying for a miracle (What if God doesn’t answer my prayer, I will look foolish for praying for it).

But think about this: Noah looked foolish for building an ark, claiming that there was going to be a flood (this was before it had ever rained); Abraham’s wife Sarah looked foolish by talking about becoming pregnant at age 90; David looked foolish going out to battle Goliath with no armor, and his only weapon being a slingshot; Benaiah looked foolish chasing a lion; Peter looked foolish stepping out onto water to walk to Jesus; and Jesus looked foolish hanging half-naked on a cross!

But the results were astounding: Noah and his family were saved from the flood; Sarah did get pregnant and gave birth to Isaac; David defeated Goliath; Benaiah killed the lion; Peter walked on water; and Jesus rose from the dead!

Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 1:27- “God deliberately chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise.”

b. Letting the fool out- Divergent Thinking is thinking that is outside

of the box; thinking that is creative and original. A study was done in regards to people and divergent thinking, and it was found out that 98% of children between the ages of 3 to 5 score in the genius category for divergent thinking. That percentage goes down to 12% for 8-10 year olds, 10 percent for teenagers, and 2% for those over the age of twenty-five. This is because the older we get, the more we try to conform our thinking to others, so that we don’t stand out and look foolish.

In his book “Get Weird,” John Putzier says: “the solution to this intellectual conformity and creative atrophy is tapping into your natural weirdness.” Now you may not want to think that you have a natural weirdness, but you do. Just think about when you are with someone you are most comfortable with, and how you have times of just acting weird. I know I do it a lot around my kids.

The Bible is full of divergent thinking (or we might call it Divergent Spirituality). Think about it. God tells Ezekiel to cook meat over dung for 390 days. He uses a dumb donkey to speak a message of change to Balaam. He tells Hosea to marry a prostitute. He causes His people to speak different languages at Pentecost.

WHY IS THIS? BECAUSE GOD LOVES VARIETY!!

We are called to conform to Christ, not to this world. And Christ is very different than our world. So by conforming to Christ we become non-conformists. We are called to be diverse. Diversity is really a celebration of originality stemming from God.

There is a man named Gordon MacKenzie, who worked at Hallmark. He eventually convinced the company to create a special title for him: “Creative Paradox.” One of his jobs was to do creativity workshops at elementary schools. When he would start his workshop, he would ask the children this question: “How many artists are there in this room?” The answer would differ from grade to grade.

First Grade- The entire class raised their hands; Second Grade- about half;

Third Grade- about one third. By the time he got to sixth grade only one or two kids would raise their hands. As MacKenzie says: “From the cradle to the grave, the pressure is on: Be Normal. My guess is that there was a time—perhaps when you were very young—when you had at least a fleeting notion of your own genius and were just waiting for some authority figure to come along and validate it for you. But none ever came.”

Jesus came to free the fool. Jesus wants us to let the fool out. The word “zany” in the dictionary says: “fantastically or absurdly ludicrous.” The truth is, our version of Christlikeness is way too civilized. Jesus was zany. He touched lepers; healed on the Sabbath; defended adulterers; befriended prostitutes; washed his disciples’ feet; talked with Samaritans, who were foreigners/ Jews weren’t supposed to talk to; partied with tax collectors/ who were despised in Jesus’ time; and regularly offended the Pharisees, who were the religious leaders, and very powerful.

II. The Foolishness of God- (Matthew 18:3-4; John 2:15-17; 1 Peter 3:13-15)

a. Be like a child- So how do we tap into our natural weirdness? The

Answer,is that we have to become like a child. Remember how 98 percent of 3-5 year-olds scored in the genius category of divergent thinking? I remember for me, when I was a youth minister for many years, being around fourth graders through high schoolers helped to keep me thinking young. And now with young children, this helps as well. As Jesus said in Matthew 18:3- “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Now in our world-view thinking, this can be a challenge, to understand how to grow up spiritually, we need to be more and more like a childo understand this, I think we need to understand a couple of things: first, children live in a world of limitless possibilities; second, children aren’t afraid to try anything.

1. Limitless possibilities- In children, there is a humbleness. They don’t

have pride or prejudice. They don’t have inhibitions or hidden agendas. As Jesus said in Matthew 18:4- “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Before the fall, there was no inhibitions, in the Garden of Eden either. Adam and Eve walked around naked without any thought of it. I would imagine they were carefree and even a little silly. But after sin, they were ashamed, and self-conscious, and probably more serious.

Part of spiritual maturity should be caring less and less what people think about you, or what you want to accomplish. Your only concern should be what God thinks of you. You see, part of taking God more seriously, is taking yourself less seriously. You should be less self-conscious. There is an old proverb, which says: “Those who hear not the music think the dancer is mad.”

If we are like children, then we too will be humble, and imagine unlimited possibilities. We will not try to box God in, or limit God, because we understand that God cannot be limited. We will not fear failure, if we believe God to be behind it.

2. Being uncivilized- EX. “The Rocky Movies.” If you have ever seen the

“Rocky” movies, you know that they are about a no-name boxer (played by Sylvester Stallone) named Rocky, who gets a chance at the heavy weight boxing title. By some weird twist of fate, he comes out winning the title. At first this seems great, but then in time he gets soft, and stops working hard, and he loses his fire. At one point, his manager, named Mickey, says to him: “The worst thing happened (to you) that could happen to any fighter—you got civilized.”

I wonder if that is happening to you, and to me? Would Jesus say that we are too civilized? Children are uncivilized until we teach them how to be civilized. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to say that we should teach our children to be uncivilized, but there is something about becoming civilized that makes us conform. And in conforming, we lose our ability to be like Christ.

b. Passion- There is a great scene in the gospel of John 2:15-17,

where Jesus comes into the temple courtyard, and sees the moneychangers taking advantage of people in the name of God, and for the supposed purpose of worship. Let me read it to you: “So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. ¹⁶To those who sold doves he said, ‘Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!’ ¹⁷His disciples remembered that it is written: ‘Zeal for your house will consume me.’”

In this passage, we see Jesus showing great zeal. Children are full of zeal. In fact, I often comment to you about the zeal of the children as they run off to Children’s Church. Children have a great passion for life. But as time goes by, we lose this passion….. Much of what causes us to lose our passion is the many fears we face in
our lives. We are afraid to do so many things. But we don’t realize that we are dealing with these fears. These fears keep us from being passionate.

Those who believe in and follow Jesus Christ ought to be the most passionate people on the planet. To be like Jesus is to be consumed with passion. The word enthusiasm comes from 2 Greek words: en, and theos. Together they mean “in God.” The more we get into God, the more passionate we become.

In actuality, the antidote to fear is not courage, but hope. If we have courage, then we might believe that we do things on our own abilities. If we have hope, we believe that God can and will do things in and through us. We don’t fear, because we know that God is with us, and for us… As our scripture reading for the morning said: “Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? ¹⁴But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. ‘Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened.’¹⁵But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”

Conclusion: Lion chasers aren’t afraid to look foolish; especially if it means being foolish for God. Lion chasers aren’t afraid to be passionate; especially if this passion comes from God, and helps people to see God through us. Lion chasers are not afraid to speak about God and for God. Being willing to face your fears means that you will have to step out with passion and risk looking foolish. Being willing to face your fears means that you seek to live life to the fullest, even if others around you think that you are being foolish. As the apostle Paul tells us in Romans 8:31- “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” Stand up to your fears by doing what God calls you to do, and by living the life God has given you to live. Let us make the commitment to live in hope, and face our fears this day, and every day. Amen.

"Reframe Your Past"

from the book “In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day,” by Mark Batterson

Psalm 51:1-13

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Introduction: If we were all to sit down and talk about the adversity we have seen in our lives, we all would have much to share; some more than others. Adversity is a part of everybody’s lives. In fact, one thing I’ve learned as a pastor, as people have shared their personal lives with me, is that there is much adversity that we go through, that no one else sees, or knows about. In the secrets of our lives, are hidden the experiences that we’ve gone through that have hurt us, troubled us, or beaten us down. People don’t share these experiences with others, because they don’t want others to know. But they are a part of who you are. These adversities cannot be buried or forgotten. And so if we are going to be able to grab our lives by the mane, we need to learn how to overcome adversity and failure by reframing them as learning experiences.

I. Unlearning Your Fears- (Matthew 5:33-34; Romans 12:2;

Philippians 2:5; 1 Peter 5:8; Daniel 3:16-18)

a. Facing your fear- Ex. About 3 years ago my family and I went to

Orlando, Florida, to go to Disney World. We had a great time at all 4 amusement parks. But there was this one event that happened at Magic Kingdom. Tyler and I decided to go on the “Tower of Terror” ride. Tyler had ridden the “Tower of Terror” ride at California Adventure, in Anaheim, so he was excited to do it in Orlando as well. The ride started off fine with the elevator going up, but when we got to the top, it did something different; instead of going straight down, it slid across the top, and then dropped down. This little difference made Tyler afraid. So much so, that for a long time, he wouldn’t go on the “Tower of Terror” ride at California Adventure here in Anaheim. Even though he liked the ride here, his fear kept him from going on it. Until about a couple of months ago, I talked Tyler into trying it again. Every minute that went by as we waited in line made Tyler all the more nervous. I tried to keep him talking so he wouldn’t think about the ride. Finally, it came time to ride; and he loved it!

Have you had an experience like this before? An experience where something made you afraid, and it kept you from fully living for God? My advice to you is to not let “mental lions” keep you from experiencing everything God has to offer. The greatest breakthroughs in your life will happen when you face your fear, and push through it. The defining moments will double as the scariest decisions. Did you catch that? Many of the aspects that define your life, will also be the hardest, and scariest decisions you have to make. But you’ve got to face those fears so that you can begin the process of unlearning those fears.

When a computer gets a virus, you have to remove that virus, or it will destroy the hard drive of the computer, and make the computer inoperable. In a similar way, our fears are like infected files in our minds. These irrational fears and misconceptions keep us from operating the way we were designed to. And if those fears and misconceptions aren’t uninstalled, they will undermine all that we do. To uninstall, we have to unlearn much of what we have learned.

Think about Jesus. When He came to this earth, much of what He did was to help people unlearn what they had learned. He would often say, “You have heard that it was said…. But I tell you…” For example, in Matthew 5:33-34, Jesus says, “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.' ³⁴But I tell you, Do not swear at all...” Having faith is really a rewiring of the human brain. As the apostle Paul says in Romans 12:2, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Again the apostle Paul says in Philippians 2:5, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.”

Unlearning requires more than just rewiring our brains; it requires NEW knowledge so that we can face our fears. According to the psychiatric books, there are approximately 2,000 classified fears. These fears run anywhere from agoraphobia (fear of open spaces or crowds), to necrophobia (fear of death or dead things), to xenophobia (fear of strangers or foreigners)…..What is interesting is that psychiatrists suggest that we are only born with 2 fears: the fear of falling, and the fear of loud noises. This would mean that all other fears are learned, and therefore all other fears can also be unlearned!

b. Taking a stand- As we talked about Benaiah last week, we learned

that Benaiah battled a lion and was victorious. But we need to understand that lion chasers, like Benaiah, have the same fears as everyone else. But lion chasers have learned to face those fears. They have learned how to unlearn their fears that keep them captive, by chasing them, instead of running away from them.

To chase your fears you have to understand something, that Satan is at the heart of trying to make us fearful. 1 Peter 5:8 tells us: “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” There is that lion again. Satan has 2 primary tactics when it comes to trying to neutralize us spiritually: discouragement and fear. He wants us to focus on past mistakes that we’ve made. That is why he is called “the accuser of our brethren.” The end result that he is after is a loss of courage. Because when we lose courage, we cease to be productive.

There comes a time when we have to face our fear and take a stand for what is right. EX. A good example of this is Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These 3 men were friends of Daniel. There was a law passed by King Nebuchadnezzar that everyone had to bow down and worship the 90-foot idol of himself. But they refused to do this. I’m sure there was fear in this decision, because it would mean death for them. But they took a stand. The Bible says it like this, in Daniel 3:16-18,

“Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. ¹⁷ If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. ¹⁸ But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

They were thrown into the furnace, but God saved them, and they lived!

COURAGE IS DOING WHAT IS RIGHT, REGARDLESS OF THE OUTCOME. Because when you put yourself into defenseless positions, it sets the stage for God to show up. If you reflect on your life, you will probably find that some of the greatest experiences are often the scariest, and the scariest experiences are often the greatest.

It’s hard to describe, but there is something about fear that makes us feel alive. The adrenaline is pumping. And time seems to stand still. And the scariest experiences make the best stories; don’t they? The goal of our lives should not be to eliminate fear, but to ask God to give us the courage to chase our lions.

Think about this for a moment, the alternative to fear is boredom. The great philospher Soren Kierkegaard went so far as to say: “Boredom is the root of all evil.” I don’t know if I totally agree with that statement, but I do know that boredom is what leads us to refuse to be, and do, all that God made us to be and do. If you are bored at all in your life, it means that you are not following in the footsteps of Christ, because boredom is not what created you for.

II. The Why and How of Reframing- (1 Samuel 17:34-37; Psalm 51:1-13)

a. Prayer- When we talk about facing our fears, we have to learn

how to reframe our thinking. To do this, it all starts with our prayer life. If we were to assess our prayer life, the truth would be that much of our praying is on reducing our problems. Most of us pray that God would keep us out of pits with lions on snowy days. But if these problems are just opportunities in disguise, our prayers are totally misguided.

There is a connection between Benaiah and King David that is important. Benaiah got the job to be David’s bodyguard. And both of them were part of an exclusive lion-chasing club. Long before becoming king, David was a simple shepherd boy. While his brothers were on the frontlines fighting the Philistines, David was stuck on the sidelines tending sheep. David probably felt like he was put out to pasture, but God was preparing his abilities for later on in his life.

One of the ways we know David best, was for his defeating the Philistine giant, Goliath. But David had an impressive resume before this victory. Before David could go and fight Goliath, he had to sell it to King Saul: (1 Sam. 17:34-37)

“But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, ³⁵ I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. ³⁶ Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. ³⁷ The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”

I bet that David’s prayer life, during this time, moved from praying for his sheep to be safe, to his praying for God to help him have the courage and wisdom to protect his sheep when the opportunities arose. I’m sure that when David got to this point of wanting to fight Goliath, he realized that God had prepared him for this task, by giving him the courage to stand up to the lions and bears he faced.

Likewise, we need to thank God for the lions, and bears, and giants in our lives, that help to prepare us to face the other aspects of life. Again, sometimes the biggest problems present the greatest opportunities for God to reveal His glory and work His purposes. No one likes being in the pits, or put out to pasture, but maybe God is developing your character and giving you skills that will serve you later in life.

b. Worship- But you need to be careful with how you utilize the skills

and opportunities God gives you. What if David had lived in today’s world. How would what he did be seen today? Let’s take a moment to look at a video clip of what that might look like….. SHOW CLIP OF DAVID: BEHIND THE SCENES.

Really, what it comes down to, is worship. Worship is zooming out and refocusing on the big picture. David lost sight of the big picture. He lost sight of what God had done for him, and through him. He lost sight of why he was made king. It wasn’t for his glory, but for God’s. David had turned his worship away from God, and to himself. David needed to refocus on the fact that God still loved him, and still had much for him to do.

Worship is really about forgetting what’s wrong with us, and remembering what is right about God. It is about getting past the fear of success, past the fear of significance, and realizing that it is only in God that we are significant and can have true success. It is about putting ourselves in a place again where we can do what God calls us to do.

Through the prophet Nathan, David sees the error of his ways, and turns back to God. Hear these words again from Psalm 51….. “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgression; ² Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. ³ For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. ⁴ Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight… Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. ¹¹ Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. ¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. ¹³ Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.”

Now that is worship. You can sense David is truly bowing down to God, and acknowledging the greatness of God. David is understanding his place in God’s design. David is asking for a pure heart so that he can serve God. David is chasing his fear of failure and sin away, with God’s help, and by God’s power.

Conclusion: We don’t need to invite adversity into our lives. Like David, we don’t need to bring more problems into our lives. But there will be situations of adversity that come our way. This situations could actually serve God’s purposes. It was the way that Benaiah handled adversity that led him to get where God wanted him. It was ultimately the way David handled adversity that allowed God to remodel his life. So we need to ask: We have you been broken? What adverse circumstances are you facing? Do you have any overwhelming problems?

Maybe God is remodeling you. Maybe God is increasing your capacity for dealing with adversity. Maybe the problem you thought you never could overcome will actually be an opportunity for God to do great things in and through your life. Let God help you to unlearn your fears, so that you will be free to live for Him. Amen.

"Unleash the Lion Chaser Within"

from the book “In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day,” by Mark Batterson

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Chase the Lion Sermon Series

Introduction: Script for Video: Childhood Story About Chasing Something

If you are anything like me you have certain childhood experiences that are unforgettable.

One of mine was chasing butterflies. The sense of freedom and chasing something that was wild. God put a chasing gene in every one of us.

Transition

Kids love chasing things: kites butterflies, rabbits, and dads, each other.

But as we get older we stop chasing and we start running away from dreams, our fears, and opportunities. But deep inside each of us is a little kid wanting to chase lions again.

Beniah the Hero

If I asked you who your favorite Bible hero was you might say Abraham, Moses, or David. I want to tell you today about a little-known person mentioned in the OT. In Samuel 23, there’s a short story about a man named Beniah. He’s a brave warrior who chased a lion on a snowy day into a pit and killed it.

Moments

Life is made up of moments where we we come alive. A wedding, a birth, a move to a new town and church. This is Beniah’s moment. We don’t know much about this story –where he’s going, what he’s thinking, or his mood, except Beniah crossed paths with a lion. We would say “wrong place wrong time.” But not Beniah. He saw an opportunity.

He chased a lion and killed it.

Meaning

And here’s what it meant for Beniah. Killing a lion in a pit on a snowy day looks awfully good on your resume if you are applying to be a bodyguard for King David. Beniah gets the position and rises to become the commander in chief of the Israel army, the #2 man in the kingdom. The genealogy of the success began with chasing the lion when he didn’t run away.

Application

What lion do you need to chase. What fear do you need to face, what uncertainty do you need to embrace, what risk do you need to take, what opportunity do you need to seize?

God is calling us to more than running away from what’s wrong. He calls us to chase those God-ordained lions he has placed in out lives. And when we do it, there’s no telling what God can do. Chase the lion.

I. Impossible Odds- (2 Samuel 23:20-23; Judges 6:1 – 7:17; 2 Peter 3:8)

God is in the business of positioning us to be in the right place at the right

time. It might not seem that way to you, but if and when you give yourself over to God, and trust God, then God helps you to fulfill your destiny. As we think about Beniah, we are probably glad that we don’t have to fight a lion in a snowy pit. But we all have times in our lives when we come upon situations and problems that seem like lions. And in these times, we can partner with God and fight, or we can choose to run away.

Now if we choose to run away, then we tend to have regrets later on. This regret is a regret of inaction; wishing you had done something you didn’t do. But our calling from God is much higher than simply running away from what’s wrong. We’re called to chase lions, if you will. You’ve probably heard the saying, “No guts, no glory?” When we don’t have guts and step out in faith and chase lions, then God is robbed of the glory that rightfully belongs to Him, and we miss out on fulfilling our destiny. We can’t be passive in life; lion chasers are proactive. Lion chasers are always on the lookout for God-ordained opportunities.

To do this, we simply need to live with this motto: Do the best you can with what you have where you are. That isn’t too hard, is it? We just need to make the most of every opportunity we are given, whether it seems hard, or scary, or whatever. What you do with each opportunity is your gift to God, the One who created you.

a. The odds- Now think for a moment if this fight between Beniah and the

lion were on pay-per-view TV. This would be something to see. The advertisements tell you: Tune in to watch Beniah fight a lion!! WOW. That would capture people’s attention. Many people would pay to watch that. And the oddsmakers in Las Vegas would not be making Beniah the favorite. He probably was a hundred-to-one longshot. But Beniah did what lion chasers do; HE DEFIED THE ODDS.

He didn’t focus on his disadvantages. He didn’t make excuses. He didn’t try and avoid the situation even though the odds were against him. Lion chasers know God is bigger and more powerful than any problem they face in this world. They are willing to move forward in the face of adversity because they know that IMPOSSIBLE ODDS set the stage for amazing miracles. That is how God reveals His glory—and how He blesses you and me in ways we could never have imagined.

The interesting thing, maybe even frustrating thing about God that we see throughout the Bible, is that often times God won’t intervene until something is humanly impossible. God usually comes into the situation just in the nick of time. GOD LOVES IMPOSSIBLE ODDS. Maybe God allows the odds to be stacked against us so He can reveal more of His glory.

b. God overcomes the odds- EX. Think for a moment about Gideon in

Judges, chapter 6. Even though Gideon had 32,000 men in his army, the Midianites had far more than that. But when it came time to fight, God told Gideon that he had too many in his army. TOO MANY? So God tells Gideon to discharge anyone who is afraid; and Gideon loses 2/3 of his army. Now he is down to about 11,000. But the Lord tells Gideon that there are still too many. This continues until Gideon only has 300 left in his army!! The odds at this point are probably a million to one for Gideon to win. BUT THE KICKER IS THAT ISRAEL AND GIDEON WIN!!

God says it this way in Judges 7:2, “You have too many warriors with you.

If I let all of you fight the Midianites, the Israelites will boast to me that

they saved themselves by their own strength.”

Too often our prayers revolve around asking God to reduce the odds in our lives. We want everything in our favor. God wants us to trust Him and rely on Him, not on ourselves. Maybe our impossible situations are actually opportunities to experience a new dimension of God’s glory.

Think about God more a moment. How does God keep track of over 6 billion people at the same time? How does God process millions of prayers simultaneously? It is because while we are limited to the 3 dimensions of our world (length, width, and height), although many are seeing “time” as a fourth dimension, God is actually omni-dimensional. This means that God is above and beyond the dimensions of our world. GOD IS NOT LINEAR. GOD IS EVERYWHERE ALL THE TIME. God is on the outside looking in. That is why “a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day” to God. (2 Peter 3:8)

II. High View of God- (Romans 8:28; Isaiah 55:8; Ephesians 2:10)

a. Thinking about God- Minister and author A. W. Tozer says that

the most important thing about you is what comes to mind when you think about God. In his book The knowledge of the Holy, he says: “…the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like…”

How you think about God will determine who you become, because you are a by-product of your God-picture. Most of our problems are perceptual, and can actually be traced back to our inadequate understanding of who God is. Our problems seem really big because our God seems really small. In fact, we reduce God to the size of our biggest problem. And even then we are not sure that God is big enough, or powerful enough to work it out for us. We tend to not believe what Paul says in Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Tozer says that a “low view of God…is the cause of a hundred lesser evils.” But a person with a high view of God “is relieved of ten thousand…problems.” A low view of God comes from someone who is fearful, because their God is too small. A high view of God comes from a lion chaser, because they know that their best thought about God on their best day falls infinitely short of how great God really is.

As Isaiah 55:8 says, “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the LORD.” And yet, we can have access to God’s thoughts, and we can rely on God’s thoughts to get us through, and to move us forward.

Maybe it is time to stop placing a four-dimensional limit on God. Maybe it is time to stop putting God in a box the size our brain can imagine. Maybe it is time to stop creating God in our image, and let God create us in His image. The more we grow in our faith, the bigger God should get. And the bigger God gets, the smaller our lions will become.

b. Contingency plans- EX. In 1997, a team of IBM engineers

designed and developed a computer called “Deep Blue.” It was the computer that was used to outmaneuver the chess grand master Garry Kasparov. “Deep Blue” was equipped with 32 processing engines that could calculate 200 million chess moves per second./ That is an amazing statistic: 200 million chess moves per second!

However, the capability of Deep Blue is nothing compared to what God can do. And our creator has taken every contingency into consideration before even a fraction of a second ticks off the clock. EX. If you think of your life like a game of chess, you are the pawn. God is the Grand Master. You have no idea what your next move should be, but God already has your next thousand moves in mind if you will trust Him and follow Him. The moves He has for you will make sense as you make them, but probably not before.

Whenever I counsel someone who is wrestling with understanding God’s will for their lives, I try and remind them a simple truth; God wants you to get where God wants you to be more than you want to get there. This should relieve a lot of stress for you. If you keep with following the leading of God’s Spirit in your life, God is going to make sure that you get where He wants you to go. He is always work- ing behind the scenes, engineering our circumstances and setting us up for success.

As Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Now here’s the catch: Sometimes God’s itinerary means that we will come face to face with a lion in a pit on a snowy day. But when we find ourselves there, we need to know that God will order our footsteps, and that God has considered every contingency, and God always has our best interest at heart!

III. God the Infinite- (2 Kings 6; John 6:11-13, 38; Matthew 18:18)

a. Degree of difficulty- Second Kings 6 records what may be the most

ridiculous prayer in scripture. You may have said some silly, selfish prayers before, but follow this. A group of prophets are chopping trees near a river and one of their iron ax heads falls into the river. The prophet who lost the ax head said to Elisha: “Alas, master! For it was borrowed.” Now, I think we all know that if you drop an iron ax head into the water, it sinks, because iron doesn’t float.

Now, if I were Elisha, I might feel bad for the guy, and maybe even let him borrow my ax. But the prophet shows Elisha where the ax head fell in. Elisha then cuts a stick and throws it into the water, and the iron floats to the top of the water!

This kind of a miracle helps to redefine reality. And the reality is that nothing is too difficult for God. When it comes to God, there are no degrees of difficulty. There are no odds. Just think about these numbers that Jesus and the disciples faced: 5,000 hungry people; 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. The numbers don’t add up. But listen to what happened in the gospel of John, 6:11-13, “Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated, as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. ¹²When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, ‘Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.’ ¹³So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.” When God does the math it is 5 + 2 = 5,000; remainder 12.

They actually end up with more than what they started with, AFTER feeding five thousand people. And God is glorified because He defied impossible odds.

b. Remembering- Jesus says in Matthew 18:18- “Whatever you bind

on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” We underestimate how much spiritual authority we have when we pray in accordance with the will of God. The word bind means “to prohibit or to fatten with chains.” When we exercise our spiritual authority in prayer, it is like our prayers are putting a spiritual chain link fence around what we are praying for.

EX. Sometimes I watch my kids without them knowing that I am watching them. I love to watch them play together; I love to watch them walk to their class lines; I love to watch them sleeping so serenely. And when I watch them, I am so proud of them. In many ways, I can see myself in my children.

Like a loving parent, our Heavenly Father loves watching us, His children. In fact, God isn’t just watching. He is actually scrapbooking. The Bible calls it “a scroll of remembrance.” God is recording absolutely every act of righteousness that we do. He is rejoicing over us the way a parent rejoices over their child. And I believe that nothing brings God greater joy than when one of His children walks in His power, through faith, and defies the odds!

Parents rejoice when their child does something right. Our Heavenly Father is no exception. In fact, He sets the standard for the rest of us to follow. That is one of the reasons He sent Jesus to earth, to show us how to live; to show us what it means to be righteous; to show us what it means to follow and trust. As Jesus said in John 6:38, “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of Him who sent me.”

Conclusion: We started out talking about Beniah, the lion chaser. And we learned that even though we don’t fight real lions, our problems can seem like lions to us. God doesn’t want us to be afraid of the circumstances, the problems, the challenges of life. God wants us to know that He can help us beat impossible odds. In fact, God wants to help us to do this. Because God has no limits, God can come to our aid. But we need to trust God. The more you trust, the more you will grow in your faith, and the more you grow in your faith, the bigger God will become, and the become God becomes, the more you trust. And on and on it goes.

Today is Epiphany Sunday. An epiphany is having that “aha” understanding of a moment. It is being willing to overcome our fears so that we will pursue the truth. That is what the wise men did. They did not fear the journey to find the Christ child, because they wanted to know the truth; they wanted to understand.

I hope you will go away today with the understanding that God is right there with you in all of your challenges and fears. God wants you to succeed and become all He created you to be. Make the decision today to be a lion chaser, and believe that nothing is too difficult for God. Amen.