Listening for what God is calling us to do can be a "giant" to be faced. God has given each of us tools, helps and guides with a plan, even helps with the training but sometimes the picture - what we see versus what God sees - is difficult to get past. We 'see' hurricanes headed "in." We hear of another mass shooting. We get the phone call we didn't 'want' to get. The diagnosis, after all the tests, is "bad." We are in shock, not sure what to do and either saying "what do I do" OR "Okay, God, you want me to do WHAT??!"
Our Scripture reading, today, is in Mark 6 and 2 Samuel 23:20 & 21. I must confess I hadn't paid much attention to Benaiah until recently as I read Mark Batterson's book "In a Pit With a Lion." Then I got to thinking of Benaiah, who ends up as a part of David's bodyguard, and David - facing "giants." Benaiah chases a lion "into a pit on a snowy day and killed the lion." (v. 20) Benaiah also "struck down" both a Moabite and a "huge Egyptian." (v. 21) This raises the question..... Did Benaiah go "say what??!" before, or after, these things happened? David has Benaiah as one of his personal bodyguards. Solomon has Benaiah as the "head" of the army. Benaiah was a soldier. I think he understood God was calling him to "greater" things. He followed where God was leading even "into a pit on a snowy day" to kill a lion. How? I think, especially as one of David's bodyguards, Benaiah had a strong relationship with God. I think, like Jesus shows us in Mark 6, Benaiah took time with God. We aren't told about Benaiah but we are told Jesus "went up on a mountainside to pray." (v. 46) Jesus stopped, took time to pray, and then went "out to them, walking on the lake." (v. 48) Jesus prayed. Do we? Jesus was regularly in worship "as was his custom (Luke 4:16). Are we? We may not "run" to face the "giant" - like David did. We may not chase a "lion into a pit" like Benaiah did. We do, however, have giants that need fighting. We can be in prayer like Jesus. We can follow, even one step at a time, where God is leading. Who knows, maybe, like Benaiah we CAN be the one to make a difference!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
February 2025
Categories |