In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day: How to Survive and Thrive When Opportunity Roars

In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day: How to Survive and Thrive When Opportunity Roars

Mark Batterson 

Every page of this book, I felt was meant for me personally. Have you ever picked up a book and felt like the author read your diary?

 I just finished this  incredibly encouraging book this past week and I felt like God was speaking to me through this book. I have had even more peace and confidence since reading this book. I have felt for a while God challenging me to take him out of my small minded box and allow him to do great things in my life. I have now passed this book in to my 13 year old. My prayer is that she grabs ahold of this at 13, and allows God to use her as a lion chaser. To work mightily in her life and accomplish things she could never fathom in her own. 

This is a book I would recommend to anyone who is willing to be used mightily by God. 

 

In summary seven skills are needed if you want to be a lion chaser:

You must comprehend the infiniteness of God so that you can believe He can help you defy the odds.

Face your fears, or they’ll hold you back forever. Learn to reframe your problems through daily bible reading (input), prayer, and worship which will then…

Shift your perspective so that your problem becomes less significant and God’s greatness becomes more evident.

You must take risk which is the essence of faith.

Be ready to seize the opportunity but you must SEE it to seize it. HOW?

Get yourself in tune with the Holy Spirit by listening to His still, small voice prompting you and believe that He is setting you up for success.

Accept you are going to look foolish sometimes, as chasing a lion usually looks pretty crazy to everyone else.

Just a few of the highlights I took away from reading this book:

“Faith is embracing the uncertainties of life. It is chasing the lions that cross our paths. It is recognizing a divine appointment when you see one. Embrace uncertainty. It is called romance. Embrace spiritual uncertainty. It’s called mystery. Embrace occupational uncertainty. It’s called destiny. Embrace emotional uncertainty. It is called joy. Embrace intellectual uncertainty. It’s called revelation.

Sometimes uncertainty forces us to pray like it depends on God.

Someday we may be as grateful for the bad things as the good things, because the bad things helped prepare us for the good things. 

Our past problems often prepare us for future opportunities.

We should stop asking God to get us out of difficult circumstances and start asking Him what He wants us to get out of those difficult circumstances.

God wants us to learn to see bad experiences through the good we have gained from them.

God will use our pain for someone else’s gain.

Don’t accumulate possessions: accumulate experiences!

Our confidence is contingent upon the character of God. Our circumstances many not make sense, but we know that God is planning His work and working His plan.

Opportunities often look like insurmountable obstacles.

We are control freaks. I am definitely one...but faith involves a loss of control. And with the loss of control comes the loss of certainty. 

Faith is the willingness and readiness to embrace those uncertainties. 

Often times the greatest moments in life are unscripted. They are unrehearsed and unplanned and unpredictable and that is precisely what makes them unforgettable. So expect the unexpected and learn to enjoy the journey.

Think of every opportunity as a gift from God. What you do with that opportunity is your gift to God.

Spiritual maturity is seeing and seizing God-ordained opportunities.

God is in the business of strategically positioning us in the right place at the right time. But the right place often seems like the wrong place, and the right time often seems like the wrong time.

Goodness is not the absence of badness. You can do nothing wrong and still do nothing right. 

Our calling is much higher than simply running away from what is wrong and looking for opportunities in our problems and obstacles, and take risks to reach for God’s best.

No adversity equals no opportunity.

Prayer is less about changing our circumstances and more about changing our perspective. 

Worship is forgetting about what’s wrong with you and remembering what is right with God. 

God wants us to learn to see bad experiences through the good we have gained from them. 

The circumstances you complain about become chains that imprison you. 

And worship is the way out.” 

Worship is the best way to reframe a problem.”

From the book:

Your greatest regret at the end of your life will be the lions you didn't chase. You will look back longingly on risks not taken, opportunities not seized, and dreams not pursued. Stop running away from what scares you most and start chasing the God-ordained opportunities that cross your path. In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day is inspired by one of the most obscure yet courageous acts recorded in Scripture, a blessed and audacious act that left no regrets: “Benaiah chased a lion down into a pit. Then, despite the snow and slippery ground, he caught the lion and killed it” (2 Samuel 23:20 -21). Unleash the lion chaser within! 

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? 

Story Behind the Book

“Our best days often start out as our worst days. And our greatest opportunities are often disguised as our biggest problems. You can land in a pit with a lion on a snowy day, and it will seem like the end of the road. But God is in the recycling business. He recycles past experiences and uses them to prepare us for future opportunities. That is the story of my life. And that is the story of your life. Look in the rearview mirror long enough and you’ll see that God has purposely positioned you everywhere you’ve been—even when it seemed you’d taken a wrong turn.” 

—Mark Batterson