“In the pit with a lion on a snowy day…”

This is the third attempt at this post, which are reflections on two books I recently read, along with my journey of the past 2-3 years. Reading my childhood youth pastor’s blog, Pastor Chilly (iChilly.com), I came across Mark Batterson, his church, and two books Batterson wrote. In reading Batterson’s books, at times I could swear I was reading my own writing, since both books hits on spiritual/life themes I have heavily been dealing with in the past 2-3 years.

This isn’t a book review, yet let me refer to the two Mark Batterson books:

1. In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day: How to Survive and Thrive When Opportunity Roars
2. Wild Goose Chase: Reclaim the Adventure of Pursuing God

A winter pause in the journey through utter chaos

I just emailed a former co-worker, catching up with him after my last contact with him 9 months ago. I remember this “moment” he and I had 9 months ago, just as all of us were ready to say goodbye to 2007. Back then we were both in the heat of each other’s life stories. I won’t share his story out of respect, yet I’ll say he was going through much deeper relationship/family issues than what I had been going through at that time.

I’ll never forget that this man and I stayed two hours after my contract was up and just talked about each of our lives. We shared from our hearts, shared our pains, shared some joy too. I do regret that I didn’t open up more to some of the people I worked with, like this man, sooner, since I only opened up towards the end of my contract. Of course that’s part of the story of the puzzles, chases, lions, and geese.

Chases, puzzles, lions, geese, and all other random analogy stuff

Hours after our late December evening conversation between the co-worker and I, my truck was burning gas, sending me off to Pittsburgh. Oh yes, that classic 5-6 hour drive from the Philly area to the Pittsburgh area I grew up in. Of course it was a random trip, yet a very purpose filled trip.

One crisp Saturday morning, just before the new year, I stood at the top of Mt. Washington in Pittsburgh’s southside. (If you ever go to Pittsburgh, I suggest driving up to and parking at Mt. Washington, since you have the best view of the three rivers, downtown, and the north shore sports complex area.) At that moment in time, when life seemed to reach an ending edge, I took out post-it notes and wrote on them. What I wrote on those notes is more between God and I, yet it has to do with surrendering those things to God. In what was an act of littering (in a liter filled area), I crumbled up each note and threw it over the hill.

“Sometimes it takes a shipwreck to get us where God wants us to go.”
- “Wild Goose Chase” by Mark Batterson

Pittsburgh has always been a cross roads for me. Like I said 9 months ago, everyone I ever loved, I shared a moment with in Pittsburgh. And that chilly sunny December day, I went back to the cross roads of Pittsburgh and faced another shipwreck in my life. Yes, a seemingly godsent relationship ended the within the same week my contract job ended. It was a “double-kill” shipwreck, happening three months after one shipwreck, and 15 months after another shipwreck.

9 months ago, the battle cry of my heart was the rebuilding of the foundation of my life, so I am solid and strong again, ready to face the storms the times I am in now. It took a lot of moments, like the trip to the “cross roads of Pittsburgh” throughout 2008 to finally build back that strong and solid foundation.

What has God done with me in the past 24+ months of my life?

Like I stated already, as I read Batterson’s two books, I could swear I was the author of those words. In the past two year God has taken my life apart. You’d think that I was pretty much done with that kind of thing, since God did a similar work tearing my life apart through the forging process of my years as a student at Valley Forge Christian College? Well I’ve learn that God’s renewal and building processes span an entire life. And in these recent re-forging works of God, I see all the themes in Batterson’s two books alive and well.

Two years ago, God had to demolish Shawn’s “kingdom of self“. I’ve mentioned this concept before. Thing is, with the kingdom of self, individuals tend to rebuild their kingdoms after they have been torn down. I’ve been no different. So on September 1, 2006, God took away my IT job at VFCC. I kept holding on to that job, as miserable as I was at times there. Sure God wanted me there for an extended season, yet my hold needed to be broken in order for God to be able to send me out on this new journey I have literally just started.

Let me not that it didn’t make much sense at all at that time what happened, yet it turned out to be the best thing for me.

I won’t speak any details at all on this, yet in 2007 the other two shipwrecks were of the relationship sorts. Batterson’s words in his books sound out loud  a mirrored echo of my experiences in 2007.  By the end of 2007 and beginning of 2008, I crawled out of two relationship shipwrecks and headed into a pit with a lion on a snowy day. To me, it reminds me of Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins, when he climbs the cold, windy, snowy mountain. He is exhausted, then is asked to get up and fight. Even Bruce’s vast skills failed him at that exhausted moment.

I’ve spent months and months wrestling with God, not in a match to out play God, yet in a losing attempt to ultimately to win back that chase after God and God’s will. Yes, I did feel like I was chasing geese and fighting a bunch of hungry lions. Wasn’t easy to face my mentors, those I mentored, and people in general and show my scars of humanity. I needed to fail, not just in my wrestling matches with God, yet in the relationships, long time job, and my kingdom of self. Without these failures, I would not be on the road to God’s ultimate successes for my life. If not these failures, I’d experience “ultimate failure” (or “epic fail”), even clothed in so-called worldly success. (Trust me, I had a lot of early success in my life).

Facing the Lions of Failure and Defeat

October 12, 2007 I, Silent Eagle, sat near my fire and shelter during my FCF Wilderness vigil. I faced failure and defeat. This wasn’t just that I, super Royal Ranger, had just about chocked for the second time in the highest level of testing in FCF. This was that I had faced two shipwrecks within a year, faced taking a break from ministry due to these shipwrecks, faced dark personal times in my life, plus faced failing a test of FCF wilderness survival skill. While I waited at my fire for Tsquare’s return with the news, I faced failure and defeat like I never have in my life. Super Royal Ranger me contemplated quitting FCF, quitting Royal Rangers.

Tsquare returned. Likely I took a deep breath.

I was given grace.

I still had to pass the test, still needed my points. I passed. I walked out of the woods early that morning finally being the Wilderness member in FCF that is now who I am. I am now proven at that level of servant leadership, not just in FCF, but in Royal Rangers. I faced failure and defeat in one of the highest levels of testing in Royal Rangers. By grace and by fighting the lions of failure and defeat, God championed me.

My Divine Detour

“The difference between where you are and where God wants you to be may be the painful decision you refuse to make.“
- “Wild Goose Chase” by Mark Batterson

“The goal of faith is not the elimination of risk. In fact, the greatest risk is taking no risks.“
- “In a Pit with a Lion…” by Mark Batterson

God’s detour in my life took me away from VFCC. I chased a relationship I thought was of God, regardless was something that was leading me to destruction, far away from God’s path for me. And months later another detour was a relationship that suddenly fell apart seemingly out of no where.

Honestly, I am sick of God’s detours, endless waiting, endless patience!!! Even so, I’ve kept up with God’s detours, kept patient, kept ready, kept in action. Funny, with detours, there are always signs pointing the direction of the detour. Seems like those signs only come when you hit the redirection mark of the detour, rarely ever advanced warning. Here I am 9 months after the last shipwreck, still following God’s divine detours, not sure where they are taking me, yet certain of the hope that I’ll come on the other side totally on course and in route with God’s will for my life.

Benaiah – David’s Body guard

I’ll end this post with this lesser know Bible character. Batterson expands on this character in his book “In a pit with a lion…” Benaiah has David like stories, such as killing lions, bears, and military victories. Of course, Benaiah once chased down a lion in a pit, on snowy day. Who dares to chase down a lion and then kill it? And of all days, a random snowy day? Benaiah also took down a giant, like David did, rather this one being an Egyptian giant. Who dares to do crazy stuff like that? David did. Benaiah did.

Christianity is not for wimps. True Christianity is for sinner who embrace Jesus’ loving grace and chase after God’s Holy Spirit. Jesus never promised an easy life, rather stated over and over the challenges of this Christian life. It is a life where failures lead to success. It is a life of great risk, sacrifice, all in the pursuit and chase after God. It is a life full of divine detours, often shipwrecks too. Yet in the end it is so worth it all to chase the lions, chase the geese!

Digesting this life lesson sermon series

My story is forming a new scene full of thrilling action, as only God can set up. It is extremely scary, yet exciting. So I’m writing out this life sermon as it still is unfolding. I am putting all these things I learned and experienced in the “crock pot”, slowly cooking and simmering it all. I don’t know where I’ll end up 1-12 months from now, yet know I’ll end up somewhere different.

So yes, God did teach me many painfully hard lesson about risk, trust, faith, God’s impossible, patience, and much more. I’ve seen a lot of impossible become possible through God over the past 2+ years. I see why God had been dealing big time in the area of risk with me. I understand why God had been annoying me on issues of trust in God. I know why God has kept driving faith in my skull, while also dealing issues of patience, which have been so extremely difficult.

I’ll tell you now, as I have over the years, that God often doesn’t make much sense. God does that on purpose, so in the end it is a God thing, not a man thing. When God told me he is going to do in my life impossible things, that even if I’ve been told, I wouldn’t believe… I’ve been told some impossible things by God that I still have the hardest time having faith believing. But I’ve seen some of it come to past already. And since only God can do it, then God will do it. I’ll keep actively in tune with God through it all.

Fight the fight! Chase the lions!

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Related posts:

1. The Journey through lands of Fear and Failure
2. Failures & Frustrations