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

by Mark Batterson

the reality is this: Normal people don’t chase lions.

God is in the business of strategically positioning us in the right place at the right time. A sense of destiny is our birthright as followers of Christ. God is awfully good at getting us where He wants us to go. But here’s the catch: The right place often seems like the wrong place, and the right time often seems like the wrong time.

God is in the résumé-building business. He is always using past experiences to prepare us for future opportunities. But those God-given opportunities often come disguised as man-eating lions. And how we react when we encounter those lions will determine our destiny. We can cower in fear and run away from our greatest challenges. Or we can chase our God-ordained destiny by seizing the God-ordained opportunity.

As I look back on my own life, I recognize this simple truth: The greatest opportunities were the scariest lions.

when I look in the rearview mirror, I realize that the biggest risks were the greatest opportunities.

two types of regret: regrets of action and regrets of inaction. A regret of action is “wishing you hadn’t done something.” In theological terms, it’s called a sin of commission. A regret of inaction is “wishing you had done something.” In theological terms, it’s a sin of omission.

Goodness is not the absence of badness. You can do nothing wrong and still do nothing right.

What sets lion chasers apart isn’t the outcome. It’s the courage to chase God-sized dreams. Lion chasers don’t let their fears or doubts keep them from doing what God has called them to do.

have a simple definition of success: Do the best you can with what you have where you are. In essence, success is making the most of every opportunity.

our greatest regrets in life will be missed opportunities.

“Don’t accumulate possessions; accumulate experiences!”

Don’t let mental lions keep you from experiencing everything God has to offer. The greatest breakthroughs in your life will happen when you push through the fear. The defining moments will double as the scariest decisions. But you’ve got to face those fears and begin the process of unlearning them.

Faith is the process of unlearning your irrational fears.

The cure for the fear of failure is not success. It’s failure. The cure for the fear of rejection is not acceptance. It’s rejection. You’ve got to be exposed to small quantities of whatever you’re afraid of. That’s how you build up immunity.

Satan has two primary tactics when it comes to neutralizing you spiritually: discouragement and fear. He wants you to focus on past mistakes you’ve made. That is why he is called “the accuser of our brethren.” And the end result is a loss of courage. The other tactic is fear. Satan wants to scare the heaven out of you. He wants to put you on your heels so you become reactive and defensive. That is why he is described as a prowling lion.

Courage is doing what is right regardless of circumstances or consequences.

It’s our past problems that prepare us for future opportunities. So someday we may be as grateful for the bad things as the good things because the bad things helped prepare us for the good things.

Maybe we should stop asking God to get us out of difficult circumstances and start asking Him what He wants us to get out of those difficult circumstances.

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.”1

Joy is mind over matter.

Sickness helps us appreciate health. Failure helps us appreciate success. Debt helps us appreciate wealth. And the tough times help us appreciate the good times. That’s just the way life is. I’ve also learned that our worst days can become our best days.

Some of the best things in life are totally unplanned and unscripted.

No problem equals no miracle.

We naturally want everything to go according to plan, but the element of surprise infuses life with so much joy. Thank God for uncertainty and unpredictability. The alternative is monotony.

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

Good is often the enemy of great.

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

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

IF YOU’RE NOT WILLING TO LOOK FOOLISH, YOU’RE FOOLISH

Nine times out of ten, criticism is a defense mechanism. We criticize in others what we don’t like about ourselves.