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In a Pit with a Lion 5

By John | July 22, 2008

For the next few weeks we’ll be using Mark Batterson’s “In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day” to help us stimulate a conversation about God-given opportunities in our lives. He blogs at: evotional.com

What’s on your to-do list today?

Whether you use Outlook Calendars, a Franklin-Covey planner, a piece of scrap paper, or just your good ole’ noggin, you’ve got to plan your day out. As an adult - there’s no way around it! There are deadlines to meet at work, schedules to coordinate at home, and lots of personal time to fit in between all of those. Certain things have to get done at certain times.

What about uncertainty?

Isn’t life uncertain? Sure, we plan our day in order to be efficient - to get things done the best way we know how. But does the day ever turn out as efficient as it could have been? Circumstances happen that throw everything off. You’re at the grocery store, almost done shopping when you hear, “Oh, hi **your name here**”. You turn around and see a lady flailing her arms in the air trying to get your attention (and inadvertently alerting the whole store to your presence - “I should have done my hair today!” you fret). You then spend the next 20 minutes trying to pay attention to the details of her cat’s inexplicably crazy behavior while wondering if the ice cream in your cart will last through the trip to the soccer field to pick up your daughter before you head home. Suddenly, because of this chance encounter, your day is all thrown off. Circumstances like these are enough to make you want to plan uncertainty right our of your life.

But faith is embracing uncertainty!

Think about at Abraham (Genesis 12) , Moses (Exodus 3:1-14), Peter (Matthew 19:23-30), Paul (Acts 23:9-15), and even my friend Elizabeth S. who moved from Missouri to Portugal (Que mulher brava!). Check out her adventures here (there’s an awesome video of a bull-fight!) and also her new book she co-authored. Even our friend Benaiah (2 Samuel 23:20-23) didn’t have lion-chasing on his to-do list. But he embraced the uncertainty of the situation and jumped into the pit. Each of these people stepped out into uncertain territories as a part of what God has planned for them.

Mark’s Uncertainty Principle

Knowing & following Christ clears away our spiritual uncertainty.
Knowing & following Christ increases our circumstantial uncertainty.

How have you seen this principle at work in your life?