In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day: How to Survive and Thrive When Opportunity Roars

by Mark Batterson

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. MARK TWAIN

risktakers.

The circumstances vary, but the law of risk is universal and eternal: The more you’re willing to risk, the more God can use you. And if you’re willing to risk everything, then there is nothing God can’t do in you and through you.

“Tiny differences in input [can] quickly become overwhelming differences in output.”1

Everything we change changes everything. Too often we fail to connect the dots between choices and consequences. Every choice has a domino effect that can alter our destiny.

Lion chasers are risktakers. They have learned that playing it safe is risky.

No risk equals no reward.

My wife and my kids are the result of risk.

All the good things I’ve experienced in my marriage, my life, and my ministry are the by-product of the risks I have

taken. And the bigger the risk, the bigger the reward.

Life is full of what I call “one small step, one giant leap” moments. These are the experiences that forever change the trajectory of our lives; these are the moments that couldn’t be planned or predicted; these are the decisions that divide our lives into chapters.

The decision to transfer schools made no sense academically, financially, or athletically. Transferring schools seemed about as logical as chasing a lion, but most God-ordained dreams die because we aren’t willing to do something that seems illogical.

have experienced over the past decade traces back to one small step that proved to be one giant leap.

Sometimes taking a calculated risk means giving up something that is good so you can experience something that is great. In a sense, sin is shortchanging ourselves and shortchanging God. It is settling for anything less than God’s best. Faith is the exact opposite. Faith is renouncing lesser goods for something greater. And it always involves a calculated risk.

I’m convinced that the only thing between you and your destiny is one small act of courage. One courageous choice may be the only thing between you and your dream becoming reality. And it may be as simple as placing a phone call, downloading an application, or sending an e-mail. But you’ve got to push over the first domino.

But lion chasers have the courage to overcome inaction inertia. Their fear of missing out is greater than their fear of messing up.

Obedience is a willingness to do whatever, whenever, wherever God calls us. And that looks very different for each of us. It doesn’t always necessitate going halfway around the world. Often the most courageous actions only require us going across the room or across the street.

You can’t remove risk from the equation.

They view it in win/lose terms. They see it as a zero-sum game. They focus on what they have to give up and fail to realize how much more they get back. A relationship with God is the ultimate win/win relationship.

Sure, we are called to “deny ourselves” and “take up our cross.” We’re called to “lose our lives so that we can find them.” And we certainly experience temporary loss. But I don’t think anyone has ever sacrificed anything for God. Why? Because we always get back more than we give up. And if you get back more than you gave up, have you really sacrificed anything at all?

“I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.”

Let me tell you something about stepping out in faith: You almost always second-guess yourself. You make the decision to get out of the boat—you change careers or end a relationship or invest in a stock—and you have second

thoughts. You wonder if you made a mistake. Did God really tell me to get out of the boat?

And you start sinking spiritually because you stop focusing on Jesus and start focusing ...

The timing was divine. Have you ever read something and felt like it was written exclusively for you?

It’s hard to explain, but that released me from the second thoughts I was having. I stopped focusing on the wind and waves and refocused on what God was calling us to do. I knew that no matter how risky or how difficult it was, launching another location was what we were supposed to be doing. Most of us want absolute certainty before we step out in faith. We love 100-percent money-back guarantees. But the problem with that is this: It takes faith out of the equation. There is no such thing as risk-free faith. And you can’t experience success without risking failure.

I think there are two kinds of people in the world: creators and criticizers. There are people who get out of the boat and walk on water. And there are people who sit in the boat and criticize water walkers.

I think: Sinking is better than sitting.

We won’t regret sinking. We will regret sitting.

“Hell begins the day God grants you the vision to see all that you could have done, should have done, and would have done, but did not do.”

Take your next pregnancy to full term.

Jesus commissioned the church in Matthew 16:18: “I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”

God is raising up a generation of lion chasers that don’t just run away from evil. God is raising up a generation of lion chasers that have the courage to compete for the kingdom.

Lion chasers don’t retreat. They attack. Lion chasers aren’t reactors. They are creators. Lion chasers refuse to live their lives in a defensive posture. They are actively looking for ways to make a difference.

We need to stop criticizing culture and start creating it. Paul didn’t boycott the Areopagus. He didn’t stand outside with a picket sign: “Athenian Idolaters Are Going to Hell in a Handbasket.” Paul wasn’t playing not to lose. Paul was playing to win, so he went toe-to-toe with some of the greatest philosophical minds in the ancient world. Paul competed for the truth on their turf.

We need to make better movies and better music. We need to write better books. We need to start better schools and better businesses.

As the old aphorism suggests, we need to stop cursing the darkness and start lighting some candles! In the words of Michelangelo, we need to criticize by creating. And you can’t create without taking a calculated risk.

Small changes and small choices become magnified over time and have major consequences. • Sometimes taking a calculated risk means giving up something good so you can experience something great. • One courageous choice may be the only thing between you and your dream becoming reality.

The goal of faith is not the elimination of risk. • A relationship with God is the ultimate win/win relationship because you can never give up more than you get back. • We won’t regret the mistakes we made as much as the God-ordained opportunities we missed. • There is nothing passive about following Christ. Starting Your Chase Mark says, “There is no such thing as risk-free faith.” What risks are stopping you from tackling an important task or growing in an important area in your life right now?

People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, they make them. GEORGE BERNARD SHAW

My friend was scared. The opportunity involved lots of sacrifices. And it was downright risky. But lion chasers recognize a God-ordained opportunity when they see one. And they are willing to chase opportunities halfway around the world if that is what God is calling them to do.

Lion chasers aren’t the most prudent people on the planet. Lion chasers are opportunists. Lion chasers aren’t focused on avoiding problems. Their modus operandi is seizing God-ordained opportunities. And like my friend, the lawyer-turned-moviemaker, they typically start out as mustard-seed opportunities.

Isn’t it ironic that some people who have so much do so little and others who have so little do so much? Lion chasers don’t let what they can’t do keep them from doing what they can. I have a simple definition of success. Success is doing the best you can with what you have where you are. In a sense, success is relative. Success is as unique as your fingerprint. It looks different for different people depending on your circumstances and gifts. But there is one common denominator that I see in all successful people. They can spot an opportunity a mile away. And they seize the opportunity with both hands. They grab life by the mane. And that is what opportunity stewardship is all about.

Make the most of every opportunity.

But opportunities typically present themselves at the most inopportune time in the most inopportune place.

disguised

Lion chasers are the kind of people who rise to the occasion. Lion chasers are the kind of people who refuse to be intimidated by Moabites or Philistines. Lion chasers play to win. They fight for what they believe in. They don’t live life sitting back on their heels. They live life on the tips of their toes, waiting to see what God is going to do next.

People who live in prayer mode see opportunities that other people don’t even notice. People who don’t live in prayer mode are opportunity blind. There are only two ways to live your life: survival mode or prayer mode. Survival mode is simply reacting to the circumstances around you. It is a pinball existence. And to be perfectly honest, it’s predictable, monotonous, and boring. Prayer mode is the exact opposite. Your spiritual antenna is up and your radar is on. Your reticular activating system is on red alert. Prayer puts you in a proactive posture. In fact, the Aramaic word for prayer, slotha, means “to set a trap.” Prayer helps us catch the opportunities God throws our way.

Living in prayer mode is the difference between seeing coincidences and providences.

whispers