In the proud tradition of The Prayer of Jabez and other books which make much of obscure Old Testament references, comes In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day, a book by National Community Church leader Mark Batterson. Mark is an extreme blogger, and he leads a remarkable church community meeting in cinemas and running Ebenezer’s Coffee House, the largest cafe on Capitol Hill in Washington DC.
Using the story of Benaiah, one of King David’s mighty men, as a starting point, Mark’s book is an engaging and challenging exhortation for followers of Jesus to seize with great courage the opportunities which life presents. We are called not to run away from obstacles and challenges, but to use them as a source of opportunities, and take risks to reach for God’s best. The more we grow, the bigger God should get, and the smaller life’s problems become.
According to Mark, you have to be willing to look foolish in the world’s eyes. Spiritual maturity is about caring less and less what people think of you and more and more about what God thinks of you. Everybody ends up chasing something in life. Why settle for chasing something less, when God has created you to chase lions?