Chasing Lions on a Snowy Day

Chasing Lions on a Snowy Day

Scripture Reading: 1 Chronicles 11:10-25

“There was also Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant warrior from Kabzeel. He did many heroic deeds, which included killing two champions of Moab. Another time, on a snowy day, he chased a lion down into a pit and killed it. (1 Chron. 11:22 NLT)

Sitting and watching snowflakes fall lazily from the sky; I am mesmerized by their size and shape.  Some are tiny little pin like dots while others are big and fluffy.  Covering the landscape they take on the picture of solidarity.  There is something ethereal about the feeling of snow as it touches your face and covers your eyebrows and hair.  As kids, we loved to catch snowflakes on our tongues.  We made snowmen and snow forts, had snowball battles, made angels in the snow, and played tag around a huge snow wheel created in the yard.  Then we’d go in the house and dunk raisin filled cookies in hot chocolate.  Those were the “good old days.”

     According to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, there are twenty-five verses in the Scriptures where the words snow or snowy are mentioned.

     One of my favorite verses is 1 Chronicles 11:22.  Here we find a great warrior named Benaiah who “on a snowy day chased a lion down into a pit and killed it.”  Are you kidding me?  Chased a lion in the snow?  How absurd!  No one in his right mind chases lions, especially in the snow. 

     I can understand a lion chasing me, but not vice versa.  I can just see Benaiah chasing the lion and the lion falling into a pit with Benaiah sliding in after it.  It’s bad enough chasing the lion, but to be face to face with a ferocious man eating lion in a pit.  Wow!  No way!

     Have you ever been called upon to face a lion? Such lions as loss of job or home, fractured friendships, conflicts within the family, health issues, a depressed spirit, or any number of other lions.  Every lion we come in contact with appears ferocious and ready to destroy us. 

     How do we face these lions?  Where did Benaiah get the strength and courage to chase his lion?  Did he do it in his own strength or did he have outside help? If we try to face the lions in our life by our own strength, we will surely fail.  But if we seek the Lord and call upon him for guidance and strength, victory is assured. 

     A little boy was walking along holding the hand of Jesus when he saw a vicious lion alongside the road ready to pounce upon him.  He spoke to the lion and pointed to Jesus and said, “I’m with Him!”  Isn’t that what we need to do when we face the Satanic lions of this world?

Prayer: Dear Lord, I am facing some fierce looking lions today.  Would you take me by the hand and protect me from their destructive powers?  I’m with you Lord.