Your Story Continues...

I was thinking of one of my favorite people from the Bible, Benaiah,

and a circumstance he was in: in a pit with a lion on a snowy day. Definitely not an ideal situation to be in. What hit me the most about his story is that no one talks about the lion. The apex predator that should have been the focus of this dangerous situation is mentioned only to say that he lost. 

But my man, Benaiah! His story continued! King David’s Mighty Man, King Solomon’s Assassin, lived and conquered. The lion’s story ended. Benaiah’s story continued.

Benaiah was unique in that he voluntarily went into his snowy pit with the dangerous predator. Some of us do that. We put ourselves into situations that have the ability to end us or at the least, seriously wound us. Some of us, just simply find ourselves in a pit with a lion on a snowy day. We go to the doctor and get a cancer diagnoses, we wake up paralyzed after an accident that wasn’t our fault, we get wrongly accused of a crime and spend decades in prison, or sadly our parents buy their dream house next to a real predator and that kind looking neighbor makes our childhood a living hell. 

Whatever the situation, whether we walk into our pit or find ourselves there (or both - because life happens), our story can be like Benaiah’s. That lion does not need to get the victory. He doesn’t even need to be remembered, only to say that he lost and we won! 

As children of God, it’s OUR story that continues. We live, beyond the pit. What happens in the pit matters, yes. It helps us mature, makes us stronger, gives us wisdom, and hones our fighting skills so that when we get out of the pit, make our way through the valley of the situation we find ourselves in, climb the mountain toward victory, and live in the glory of defeating that lion for a while, we know exactly how to deal with the next pit. Because there will be another one. There are many lions to defeat in this life. What we have to remember is that his story is the one that ends, and that it ends in defeat. Our story, your story continues…

And because you are on this side of the Cross, your story is greater than Benaiah - greater than David’s Mighty Man, King Solomon’s Assassin. Greater even, in the words of Jesus, than John the Baptist, who was the greatest man born of a woman. So, get excited! Even if, like me, you find yourself at this moment in a pit with a lion on a snowy day. The snow won’t last always. The lion isn’t meant to defeat you, and ultimate victory is yours / mine / ours through Jesus! 

P.S - I'm sure most of you know this, but it's always good to be reminded. Even when it SEEMS as if the lion, the snow, and the pit have won. If you are a born again believer in Jesus, Your story continues...