"Chase the Lion"
By Mark Batterson
One day photographer Atif Saeed drove through Lahore zoo safari in Pakistan. Eager to get a good shot of the wildlife, he left his jeep, sat on the ground, and began to snap pictures of the lions. The sound of the lens got the attention of a male lion, who apparently didn’t take kindly to Mr. Saeed’s presence. It moved closer to him, as little as 10 feet, poised to attack. Right before the lion lunged at him, this is the photo Atif was able to take:
Saeed barely made it to his jeep in time, getting inside and shutting the door before the angry lion was able to sink his claws and teeth into Atif’s flesh. Atif, spurned by the will to survive, instinctively ran for life. He was unwilling to chase the lion.
A story with a similar circumstance is mentioned in 2 Samuel 23:20:
"And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man, of Kabzeel, who had done many acts, he slew two lion-like men of Moab: he went down also and slew a lion in the midst of a pit in time of snow:"
Benaiah, one of David’s mighty men, doer of many amazing deeds, chased a lion to its den and killed it. It is through this feat that Mark Batterson’s “Chase the Lion” arrives at the premise that we all have a lion to hunt and to chase and to defeat.
Hold on! Before you load up your rifle and head off to Kenya, we’re talking about metaphorical lions here. Though, in some ways it will be as perilous as Benaiah’s encounter and you will have to be just as brave as he, just as faithful. God is calling us to be conquerors, mighty men doing amazing deeds in His name. Killing giants, fighting battles, and yes, chasing lions. In his book, Pastor Batterson gives numerous examples of people who took enormous leaps of faith and yielded enormous results. It may be a task that is larger than your scope of vision, your own power or even the span of the rest of your life. “But if your dream doesn’t scare you, it’s too small.”
What are you doing for God? Do you want to accomplish great things or are you satisfied with mediocrity? Do you wish to see a God do a miracle through you and your work? To witness his supernatural synchronicity? "Chase the Lion” is definitely a book that can help direct you on that path.
“Jesus didn’t die just to make you safe. He died to make you dangerous.” You see a lion over the savanna. Muscles tensed. Eyes focused. Every fiber of his being is ready for the hunt. However, he isn’t as strong, as agile, or as dangerous as one who is being led by God to do amazing things. Here’s your lion. It’s time to chase it!