Courage – 1

                                                                            Courage – 1

Subject – How to Face the Lions in Our Lives

By Rick Welborne

2 Samuel 23:20-23 (NLT2)
²⁰  There was also Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant warrior from Kabzeel. He did many heroic deeds, which included killing two champions of Moab. Another time, on a snowy day, he chased a lion down into a pit and killed it.
²¹  Once, armed only with a club, he killed a great Egyptian warrior who was armed with a spear. Benaiah wrenched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with it.
²²  Deeds like these made Benaiah as famous as the Three mightiest warriors.
²³  He was more honored than the other members of the Thirty, though he was not one of the Three. And David made him captain of his bodyguard.

1 Peter 5:8-9 (NLT2)
⁸  Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.
⁹  Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are.

--Why a series about courage, Pastor Rick? I think it is pretty evident that the last two years with Covid has exposed a lot about the world but even more about the church.

--To be perfectly honest with you, I have been shocked by the fear in the body of Christ, especially among those who claim to be Spirit-filled. The Word says much about us not having fear.

2 Tim. 1:7 (NKJV) ⁷ For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 

--Fear manifests itself in so many different ways and I believe we have experienced the full gambit. People react to fear and it is very obvious. Using Covid as an example:

--Fear manifested itself in isolation, anger, division, strife, accusations, insults, backbiting, and good ole back sliding. It was like the church had lost its bearing. Its purpose.

--I just became familiar with a new term associated with churches and businesses called “Mission Drift”. It happens when a church or business focuses on anything other than its mission.

--Instead of focusing on reaching the lost here at home and around the world fear made us concentrate on livestreaming verses live services, social distancing or not, masks or no masks.

--As Covid and fear continued to escalate we began to be divided by vaccine verses no vaccine and then, it was boosters or no boosters. The lines were drawn in the church because we succumbed to fear.

--Fear caused adult children to threaten their parents…if you go to church you cannot see your grandchildren. Walmart, Publix, and restaurants were ok but not church. This is a spiritual battle. 

--Fear caused people to accuse each other of not caring, of being ignorant to facts, of not respecting each other. Pastors we caught in the middle trying to keep sheep from killing each other.

--As I said recently in a message, somewhere between 28-32% of ministers got totally out of the ministry most likely because of fear. Not fear of Covid but fearful of where the church was headed.

--They were afraid they couldn’t keep the church going spiritually, physically, and financially. Afraid to speak out, they chose the easy way out…quit. How sad.

--Can I tell you it can be very difficult to not have “Mission Drift” when you are trying to keep the church unified and the devil is coming to kill, steal, and destroy.

--Thank God, He always has a remnant who remains faithful. I was so concerned about missions thru this.

--Let me say a great big thanks to those who stepped up and increased your mission’s giving. We have added more missionaries, not because more are giving but because many are giving more. Staying on mission.

--Think about this. Look at the bottom line. Churches closing and ministers quitting means less missionaries. Translates into souls not being saved. Satan as a roaring lion devouring. Missions was impacted.

--So what’s your point, Pastor Rick, it is time for the church to be brave and courageous. We should fear God a whole lot more than we do Covid or anything else we face. More is coming, I promise you.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 (NKJV)
¹  But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:
²  For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
³  unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,
⁴  traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
⁵  having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! 

--I believe it is time that we have courage and trust in the Lord with all our hearts. If things are about to escalate in our world, shouldn’t we be prepared?

1. Courage to Face the Lion.

--Let’s face it, most of us would not have the same reaction Benaiah had when he encountered the lion on that snowy day. Our natural instinct to facing a 450-pound lion is to run.

--Normal people run away from lions and they run as far and as fast as they possibly can. But lion chasers are wired differently. Try to put yourself in Benaiah’s snowshoes. 

--Out of the corner of his eye he sees something crawling through the snow (his vision is probably blurred because of the snow). We have no idea how far away the lion is.

--Finally, like a Hollywood moment, their eyes lock on each other. Pupils dilate. Muscles tense up and adrenaline rushes. Imagine you are watching on IMAX with surround sound. You grip your seat.

--Usually these moments end the same way. Man runs like scaredy-cat, lion chases and catches him, and the lion has a manwich sandwich for lunch. End of story. End of man.

--Not this time, the lion runs and Benaiah chases after him. What? Lions can run up to 35miles an hour and leap 30 feet in a single bound. Benaiah has no chance but that doesn’t stop him. 

--The King of the Beast makes a critical mistake and falls into a snowy deep pit. Probably landed on his feet. No one is eating popcorn at this point.

--Benaiah eases up to the edge of the pit and looks straight into the huge cat’s yellow eyes. Benaiah looks focused and determined and you are thinking…Don’t even think about it. 

--You think, just walk away or actually run. Who in their right mind chases lions and surely no one would jump in a pit with a lion on a snowy day. No rifle, no pistol, no shotgun.

--Benaiah walks away. Yippee! Wait a minute! He is just getting a running start! This is definitely a leap of faith. A 450-pound lion against a 200-pound man without a gun. He dead. 

--Two sets of tracks leading into a pit. Foot prints and paw prints. You lose sight of both of them and all you hear is a loud roar and a loud battle cry…and then, silence. Oh no!

--We all expect to see the giant cat covered in Benaiah’s blood crawling out of the pit but it is Benaiah instead.

2 Samuel 23:20&23 (NLT2) ²⁰  There was also Benaiah, on a snowy day, he chased a lion down into a pit and killed it. 

2. Courage to Trust God.

--This is a fact…God is in the business of strategically placing us in the right place at the right time. In other words, God is good at getting us where He wants us to go. Here’s the catch:

--Many times the right place seems like the wrong place, and the right time may seem like the wrong time. Encountering a lion in the wild is typically a bad thing. Deadly bad.

--No one probably would have given Benaiah any chance of winning the battle with this lion. Like the pastor’s wife where I got saved, she gave me no chance of continuing to live for God.

Quote – Rick, you were the person I gave the least hope for living for God because you came with so much junk in your life.

--We have to trust that God knows what He is doing and that He will get us where He wants us to be even if it means facing down a huge lion. Fast forward two verses.

2 Samuel 23:23 (NLT2) ²³  He was more honored than the other members of the Thirty, though he was not one of the Three. And David made him captain of his bodyguard. 

--Romans tells us that God works all things together for our good if we love Him. Benaiah’s resume…Killed two champions, an Egyptian warrior, and a lion in a pit on a snowy day!

--Because God had set him up and because He was courageous, God exalted him for the service of the King.

3. Courage Brings a Blessing.

--Here’s the point of being courageous for God:

Batterson – God is always using past experiences to prepare 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 run in fear from the lion or Covid or our greatest challenges or we can chase our God ordained destinies by seizing the opportunity before us. 

--As I look at my life I recognize the greatest opportunities were the scariest lions. Pastoring this church. I had to be brave and courageous. 

--During the Black Plague of the 1300s when it came to the question, “Do we minister to people or isolate ourselves because of fear of death.” Their response and motto…We die at our post.

Joshua 1:1&6-9 (NLT2) ¹  After the death of Moses the LORD’s servant, the LORD spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant. He said,
⁶  “Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them.
⁷  Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do.
⁸  Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.
⁹  This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”