Do you ever wonder if God is speaking to you? I mean, directly?

I recently recorded a promo for a new sermon series by my pastor. The series is called “Invincible,” and the promo begins like this:

“What is your Everest? That mountain you keep coming to that seems insurmountable?”

Then I picked up a book by Mark Batterson titled Chase the Lion. The theme is based on a brief passage about a man who became one of King David’s mighty warriors. His name is Benaiah. Have you heard of him? I didn’t recognize the name, but later found him in a listing of some of David’s most valiant warriors. Batterson, a pastor in Washington, D.C., has built a philosophy of life around that short scripture. Here it is:

“On a snowy day, he chased a lion down into a pit and killed it.” 2 Samuel 23:20 NLT

I had to look that up. I know I have read through the Bible multiple times. I know I have read the books of Samuel. I don’t know that this passage has ever caught my eye…until now.

Batterson says that chasing a lion into a pit on a snowy day is not a normal action. That’s an understatement! It is probably the exact opposite of what I would do. Are you with me on that? I hope to never be in a position to have to find out how I would deal with that exact situation. Mark Batterson says that action is “…one of the most counterintuitive acts of courage in all of Scripture.”

It was that display of courage by Benaiah that seemed to set the pattern for the warrior’s life, and it ultimate propelled him to a high position in David’s army. And Batterson says that “chase the lion” is more than a catchy phrase.

“Most of us spend our lives running away from things we are afraid of. We forfeit our dreams on the altar of fear. Or we chase after the wrong things.”

So, what is your “Everest?” is there something before you that is holding you back from doing what you believe God wants you to accomplish? Something keeping you from being who the Lord has called you to be?

Mark Batterson has gone so far as to write a “Lion Chaser’s Manifesto” to challenge and encourage those facing challenges. Here are a few of my favorites from that list:

  • Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death.
  • Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-given passions.
  • Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention.
  • Grab opportunity by the mane and don’t let go!
  • Live for the applause of nail-scarred hands.
  • Dare to fail. Dare to be different.
  • Quit holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away.
  • Chase the lion.

Have you decided what it is keeping you from that “thing” God has for you? That Everest? That lion that seems to be in your way? I have. And I’m working on setting a goal…pursuing that God-given opportunity…chasing the lion.