Courage – 3

Courage – 3

Subject – Lion Chasers Who Defy the Odds

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.

1. Odd Things About Odds

--It is hard to imagine what odds the Jerusalem odds makers would have given Benaiah in the three incidents we see in 2 Samuel but I do know he would not have been the favorite pick.

--I am just guessing he was a two to one underdog when he fought two Moabite champions (warriors). This was not tag team wresting and he had no one to tag anyway. 

--The odds makers would never have given Benaiah a chance against the Egyptian warrior (giant). To start with, the giant had a spear and Benaiah only had a club. For me, a spear wins every time.

--According to Scripture the Egyptian was seven and a half feet tall. In boxing, that would give a person a great advantage because of longer reach. But then, add a spear…Whoa!

1 Chronicles 11:23 (NLT2)
²³  Once, armed only with a club, he killed an Egyptian warrior who was 7¹/₂ feet tall and whose spear was as thick as a weaver’s beam. Benaiah wrenched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with it.

--This is definitely one of those David and Goliath mismatches when you consider the Egyptian’s size, reach, and that he also had a spear. The odds are absolutely against Benaiah.

--How awesome would it be to see a normal size man wrench a spear out of a giant’s hand and then, to kill him with it. This would have been a made for movie event.

--Let’s not forget about the lion in a pit on a snowy day. I personally would not want to be in a pit with a lion on any kind of day with or without a weapon. A recipe for disaster.

--The Bible is not exactly clear on whether Benaiah even had a weapon, but even if he did, it was not a hunting rifle or double barreled shotgun with buckshot or slugs in it. Hand to paw combat!

--Again he is faced with a major physical disadvantage because a fully grown male lion can weigh up to 550 pounds, can run much faster, and leap up to 35 feet. 

--It’s jaws are strong enough to crush the bones in a human’s skull and its canine teeth can rip through wildebeest hide so just imagine what their teeth would do to human flesh. Benaiah is small prey.

--The lion definitely has home field advantage. A pit would definitely be more of a lion’s domain. His eyesight is five times better than humans with 20/20 vision. 

--A sure footed lion in a snowy pit definitely has an advantage over a human in theses slippery conditions. When you add it all together it is probably a 100 to 1 long shot that Benaiah will win.

2. Defying the Odds

--Benaiah did what lion chasers do. He defied the odds. This is so important. He didn’t focus on his disadvantages. He didn’t make excuses. 

--He didn’t avoid the situation just because the odds were against him. Lion chasers know God is bigger and more powerful than any problem they face in the world.

Batterson – Lion chasers thrive in the toughest circumstances because they know that impossible odds set the stage for amazing miracles. That is how God reveals His glory—and how He blesses you in ways you never could have imagined. 

--There is a pattern that is repeated throughout Scripture: 

Biblical Pattern - Sometimes God won’t intervene until something is humanly impossible. And He usually does it just in the nick of time.

--I believe this pattern shows one dimension of God’s personality: God loves impossible odds. And I can relate to that. I love doing things no one else thinks you can do.

--The other day Stephanie and I were talking to some guys at the gym especially about how fast we ride the stationary bike and one of them said, “You don’t do anything like a normal person.” Thank you!

--In my mind God loves when His people want to defy the odds whether it is missions, tennis, or biking as long as it is for His glory. Even as a kid I wanted to do the longest wheelies or cut the grass the fastest.

--It is not possible for a church our size with the demographics that we have to be in the top ten in the state and in the top fifty in the nation in missions giving but we have defied the odds. 

--When I first started playing tennis I went to a tristate tournament at Samuel Grand Prix Tennis center in Dallas, Texas, with a friend who had been playing tennis for a while. 

--I felt God placed in my heart a dream and I said to my friend, “I am coming back to this tournament next year and I am going to win the whole thing.” He laughed me to scorn. Not possible.

Mark 10:27 (NKJV) ²⁷ But Jesus looked at them and said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible."

--I am definitely one of the people who strongly believes faith without works is dead so I went to work. I practiced several hours a day and worked as hard as I could for the whole year.

--But my friend was right, I didn’t come back and when the tournament the next year, I did it for the next three years. With God’s help and for His glory we defied the odds. 

--Do you just suppose that sometimes God invites us to defy the odds because it is a way He can show His omnipotence? Maybe He allows the odds to be stacked against us so He can reveal more of His glory.

3. Little is Much When God is in it.

--What do you mean, Pastor? Think about God’s military strategy in Judge’s 7. Gideon has an army of 32,000 and is terribly outnumbered by the Midianites. They are underdogs but listen to God’s command.

Judges 7:1-3 (NKJV)
¹  Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the well of Harod, so that the camp of the Midianites was on the north side of them by the hill of Moreh in the valley.
²  And the LORD said to Gideon, "The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, 'My own hand has saved me.'
³  Now therefore, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, 'Whoever is fearful and afraid, let him turn and depart at once from Mount Gilead.' " And twenty-two thousand of the people returned, and ten thousand remained. 

--Say what? Just like that, God trims down Gideon’s army by two-thirds because those who were afraid left. Imagine what poor Gideon is thinking. What are you doing to me, God? God wasn’t done.

Judges 7:4 (NKJV)
⁴  But the LORD said to Gideon, "The people are still too many; bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. Then it will be, that of whom I say to you, 'This one shall go with you,' the same shall go with you; and of whomever I say to you, 'This one shall not go with you,' the same shall not go."

--The 10,000 quickly become 300 because God didn’t like how they drank water. If you got down on your knees to drink, you were out. If you lapped water in your hand like a dog, you were in.

--I can just imagine, with my sense of humor, some of the 300 say, “Man, I knew I should have gotten down on my knees.” I think maybe God likes dogs. Spell dog backwards. What do you get. God!

--This makes military sense. Illustration. If you are on your knees, you can’t see the enemy but if you are drinking from your hand, you can watch for the enemy. God works miracles but He is also practical.

--So how big is this army that Gideon and the 300 are going against?

Judges 7:12 (NKJV)
¹²  Now the Midianites and Amalekites, all the people of the East, were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seashore in multitude.

--Impossible odds but little is much when God is in it. The odds had to be at least a million to one but that does not matter when God gets involved. You know the rest of the story. Gideon wins. No, God wins!

Romans 8:31-32 (NKJV)
³¹  What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
³²  He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

--God loves defying the odds when it seems all hell is against us. Maybe hell can defeat us but it cannot defeat the God we serve. Little is much when God is in it.

--No matter what you are going to face this next week, you are not going to face it alone. God is with you, God is in you, and He is for you!

--You and God go and defy the odds.