Chasing Lions

Working at the Christian Book store gives me the opportunity to hear about many books, whether we sell them or not. It gives you an opportunity to get free book reviews. So after many requests for the book IN A PIT WITH A LION ON A SNOWY DAY by Mark Batterson, I went in search of the book.

On the back of the book is a question thatpeople have asking me often as of late. What if the life you really want and the future God wants for you, is hiding right now in your biggest problem, your worst failure.... your greatest fear?

The book is based on the scripture in II Samuel 23, where Benaiah chases a lion into a pit and then follows him into the pit. Benaiah kills the lion and climbs out of the pit. The book talks about the gut instinct when crossing paths with a lion is to run, to get as far away as possible. But Benaiah was a lion chaser. He didn't focus on why he shouldn't chase the lion nor did he look at the disadvantages of jumping into the pit.

While it would be uncommon to run across and actual lion, we all face lions everyday. Some of our fears and hurdles seem as large and as frightening as lions.
One of my lions has been singleness. If anyone had told me, when I divorced, that I would be single again for over 20 years, I don't know if I would have made the decision to leave. Looking at life alone is scary. It was at 25, 35 and 45. There are times when something happens at work and I long for someone to come home and share that with. A couple of months ago, I remember walking up to the front door of my house. As I put the key in the lock, I realized that tears were running down my face. The only thought I had at the time was, "I just don't want to go home alone again". This has been a long week with a lot of things happening and by this afternoon I just needed a hug. This isn't something that happens all the time or even often, but when it happens it is very real and painful. But the book made me think, what if the future God wants for me is hiding in my singleness. What if my singleness is a training camp for something better in the future. Maybe I should stop looking at the disadvantages of singleness and start looking for the silver lining of singleness.

At the end of Chapter 7 Mark says that a "willingness to fail is a prerequisite to success." Is your fear of failure keeping you from seizing opportunities?

Is our frustration with singleness keeping us from seizing opportunities that are unique to singles? What do you think?