We just finished this book in my small gorup. Crazy title for a book; however, it is scriptural and very life applicable.  It is based on the Old Testament book 2 Sam 23: 20-21, see the scripture below

20 Benaiah was the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man from Kabzeel, who had done many deeds. He had killed two lion-like heroes of Moab. He also had gone down and killed a lion in the midst of a pit on a snowy day. 21 And he killed an Egyptian, a spectacular man. The Egyptian had a spear in his hand; so he went down to him with a staff, wrested the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and killed him with his own spear.

I want to share some of the things learned from this book, most of this information will have been taken straight from the book. As I read through this book, the Lord brought questions to my attention through each chapter and put them on my heart to think through.

This book is really reading deep into this specific Scripture, I mean I personally would never have thought that this could have been as inspirational and eye opening as it has. This book is about chasing lions, but not exactly as Benaiah did in this Scripture; more so, chasing our own “lions”.

If you look at the Scripture it says Benaiah went down and killed a lion.  The lion was apparently not chasing him, so why on earth would he go after it?  “Normal” people would not go after a lion, they run far away and run fast.

A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

God is in the business of strategically positioning us in the right place at the right time to put us in the direction He wants us to go (a destiny).  As followers of Christ, a sense of destiny is our birthright.  There does always seem to be an issue with this though. How many times are we placed somewhere at a certain time and we feel it is the wrong place and the wrong time?

Q: How many times have you passed something up because you felt as though it was the wrong time?  or because of fear? How many nights have you not slept because of a decision you made NOT to chase a lion?

God is also in the business of building our personal resumes.  He always uses our past experience to prepare us for future opportunities.  These opportunities are what we can call lions.  How we react to these lions will determine our destiny. Will you cower in fear and run away or will you chase the God-ordained destiny by seizing the God-ordained opportunity.

The greatest opportunities are usually the scariest of lions.  Taking no risk is the greatest risk of all!

No Guts, No Glory

Regrets of action – wishing you hadn’t done something (Theologically speaking: sin of commission, holiness by subtraction)

Regrets of inaction – wishing you had done something (Theologically speaking: sin of omission, holiness by multiplication)

Goodness is not the absence of badness.  We can do nothing wrong and still do nothing right.  As the title of this section of the book – when we don’t have the guts to step out in faith and chase lions, God is robbed of the glory that rightfully belongs to Him.  We’ve become far too defensive and passive.  Lion chasers are proactive and know that playing it safe is risky and are always on the lookout for God-ordained opportunities. Looking at Benaiah’s opportunity, many would think of this as “bad luck” but that opportunity made him the head bodyguard of David!  Following Christ is not supposed to be safe or civilized as many people believe.

What sets the lion chasers apart isn’t the outcome, but it is the courage to chase God-sized dreams.  They don’t let their fears or doubts keep them from doing what God has them called to do.

A Survival Guide for Lion Chasers

What is success? Doing the best you can with what you have where you are – making the most of every opportunity.  It’s not the Webster definition but it’s the simplistic one.

What is Spiritual maturity?  Seeing and seizing God-ordained opportunities.

Success = stewardship and stewardship = success

Stewardship is not just one thing in our lives, it’s EVERYTHING, every second of our lives: time, talent, treasure, imagination, competitive streaks, sex drive, humor, OPPORTUNITIES!!!

Chapter 1 Review (from the book)

Starting Your Chase

What lion-chasing skill do you think might be most difficult for you to master?

Defying odds?

Facing Fears? (think of this as unlearning fears)

Reframing problems?

Embracing uncertainty?

Taking risks?

Seizing opportunities?

Looking foolish?

I hope you enjoy my cliff notes of this book as well as the questions from the book and the ones the Lord shows me to share with you all.

God Bless!