I Sam 17:34 "...when a lion or bear comes"David conquered a lion and a bear before he ever met Goliath, before he was ever chosen as King of Israel.
Just imagine the initial fear David must have had. And maybe he missed with those stones a few times, only injuring the animal. Maybe he even failed a few times.
I wonder...did God send that lion? And the bear?
I think so.
David needed to know he could conquer a lion, by God's power, before he would ever presume he could conquer Goliath.
And so, the lion was a blessing. It was God's opportunity.
Every difficult and hard thing that comes along in our life is God's opportunity to show us we can do things far beyond our own limitations.
May God open our eyes to see His blessings beneath the coverings of our troubles, trials and temptations.
What is your lion right now? By God's strength and power, are you conquering it, or is it conquering you?
Robin
This reminds me a little of Mark Batterson's book "In a Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day". In the book he teaches you to chase your lions instead of running from them. It was a concept that had never occurred to me. I've been trying to make that a practice in my life every since and I can truthfully say that it doesn't mean that things are any easier, or that I'm any less afraid. But instead of running away from them and letting them chase me, I've started chasing them. It is changing me. It is changing things around me. I'm SO excited!
ReplyDeleteThank you for this beautiful reminder of God's faithfulness in the midst of stuggles. He is all knowing and always in control. If I could just trust as simply as I type! (Theresa highlighted your blog a while back - thanks for your leadership in the blog-o-sphere!)
ReplyDeleteDefinitely conquered awhile back. The strange part is that this faint flicker of hope refuses to die out.
ReplyDeleteSomedays I feel as if I am conquering the Lion...other days the Lion is truly conquering me. Thankfully God is with me either way!!
ReplyDeleteYou know my lions........ I am conquering them though, not by myself, but with God. I realized yesterday that I haven't been depressed, and that was an amazing moment for me. I have hope and joy where there once was an awful darkness. Its not easy, but I'd much rather be doing this than anything else.
ReplyDeleteWow, I never thought about the "practice" David had in killing lions and bears. It reminds me of the Chinese word for crisis, which is made up of 2 symbols...one meaning chaos and the other meaning hidden opportunity.
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