Chase the Lion: If Your Dream Doesn't Scare You, It's Too Small

by Mark Batterson

You are one idea, one risk, one decision away from a totally different life. Of course, it’ll probably be the toughest decision you ever make, the scariest risk you ever take. But if your dream doesn’t scare you, it’s too small.

You can run away from what you are afraid of, but you’ll be running the rest of your life. It’s time to face your fears, take a flying leap of faith, and chase the lion!

In every dream journey there comes a moment when you have to quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. You have to go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention.

You have to go big or go home. You have to take the road less traveled or settle for status quo. You have to bite the bulle...

If you focus on not making mistakes, you won’t make a difference.

If you’re looking for an excuse, you’ll always find one. If you’re looking for an opportunity, you’ll always find one.

The best way to discover your dream is to help other people accomplish theirs!

But your greatest legacy isn’t your dream; it’s the dreams you inspire in others! You aren’t just a dreamer; you are a dreamcatcher.

Your greatest legacy isn’t your dream. Your greatest legacy is the next generation of dreamers that your dream inspires—the dreams within a dream.

“In one encounter.” That little phrase in 2 Samuel 23 is so simple yet so powerful. That’s all it takes! You are one encounter away from your destiny. One off-the-cuff conversation, one crazy idea, or one glance across a crowded room can change everything.

If you want to live an epic life, you have to overcome some epic challenges. You have to take some epic risks, make some epic sacrifices.

What we perceive as positive sometimes turns out to have negative side effects, and what we perceive as negative often turns out to be the best thing that ever happened to us.

Mismanaged success is the leading cause of failure. Well-managed failure is the leading cause of success.

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people.6

If you want me to do something, don’t tell me to do it. That’s not motivating to me. Tell me it can’t be done.

If you don’t have a dream, get around people who do. You might just catch what they have. Dreams are highly contagious!

We tend to avoid situations where the odds are against us, but when we do, we rob God of the opportunity to do something supernatural.

Just when I think I’m dreaming big, God often does something that reveals how small my dream is in comparison to His omnipotence.

Someday you may thank God for the closed doors even more than the open doors! It’s one of His best premoves.