Chase the Lion: If Your Dream Doesn't Scare You, It's Too Small

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I’m pretty uncomfortable with where it landed. It’s very ego-centric, basically communicating that if we are willing to take risks for God he will bless us in profound ways and fulfill our wildest dreams. I think that message distracts from the heart of every day faithfulness, of living as though God has a purpose to your every day routine. Batterson’s book made both God and the every day routine of existence feel more like a means to an end, that if we just endure it long enough God will turn over a fresh and better chapter in our lives. Chase the Lion is a powerful, passionate, and inspiring message! When you pursue God’s dream for your life, it can be a little scary, but man is it worth it!”

Your vision is obscured by falling snow and frozen breath. Out of the corner of your eye, you detect movement. Pupils dilate. Muscles flex. Adren- aline rushes. It’s a prowling lion stalking its prey—you. We seek out community in everything we do—and our dreams should be no different. In Chase the Lion, Batterson reminds us to come together, share our dreams, and chase after them. And in doing so, we become not only dream chasers but dream catchers for the others in our pride.”In this highly anticipated sequel to his best-selling In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day, Mark Batterson invites lion chasers everywhere to chase dreams so impossible that victory demands we face our fears, defy the odds, and hold tight to God. Everyone expects the lion to strut out, shaking its mane. But no. Ahuman form reaches up and climbs out of the pit. Drops of blood color thesnow crimson. Claw marks crisscross Benaiah’s spear arm. But against all odds, the valiant warrior from Kabzeel earns an epic victory.

Trigger warning: discussing topics of pre-marital sex, teen pregnancy, and abortion. For mature listeners! When I was nineteen years old, I heard a sermon that would change the trajectory of my life. Sam Farina preached about a man named Benaiah, who chased a lion into a pit on a snowy day. I had never heard the story, and I could barely believe it was in the Bible. But a thought fired across my syn- apses: If I ever write a book, I’ d like to write a book about that verse. That was the genesis of a dream titled In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day.Thank you for listening! Please reach out if you need prayer, want to talk, or have questions about ANYTHING! GOD BLESS YALL! All of it left me feeling like it was a handbook for a flashy spiritual life that God will give to you if you just plant the right “faith seeds.” He gets pretty close to prosperity talk towards the end saying that when we’re nice to others we’ll reap their generosity towards us and that, “If you’re diligent, you’ll stand before kings. Or sit at tables with presidents” (p. 184)—this coming on the heels of him sharing his own experiences of having done so. In a nutshell, this book is about how to embrace the “dream” or “destiny” God has placed in your heart and step into your full potential as a Christ-follower. According to Batterson, the way to do that is by facing, chasing, and killing your “lions”—those things you fear most in life. He says that fear causes us to either forfeit our dreams or dream in too small of terms, which does not bring God glory. One period of time in which the lion saw a lot of attention was in the medieval period. During this time, they were commonly depicted on weaponry and family crests as a symbol of nobility and honor. Additionally, lions made many appearances in medieval bestiaries, serving as a moral lesson in both a religious and secular manner. Is It Normal for Lions to Hunt in Groups? Scripture doesn’t explain what Benaiah was doing or where he was going when he crossed paths with the lion. We don’t know the time of day or his frame of mind. But it does reveal his gut reaction, and it was gutsy.