In the Pit

I've recently started reading a book titled: "In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day: How to Survive and Thrive When Opportunity Roars." I don't want to spend time paraphrasing the book so I'm going to share with you the story behind this book from author Mark Batterson who writes: “Our best days often start out as our worst days. And our greatest opportunities are often disguised as our biggest problems. You can land in a pit with a lion on a snowy day, and it will seem like the end of the road. But God is in the recycling business. He recycles past experiences and uses them to prepare us for future opportunities. That is the story of my life. And that is the story of your life. Look in the rearview mirror long enough and you’ll see that God has purposely positioned you everywhere you’ve been—even when it seemed you’d taken a wrong turn.”

I want to tell you about a woman I know who landed in a pit with a lion. We'll call her B. B is a tall middle aged woman who used to have long fiery red hair. B is a woman who loves Jesus with everything she has and who truly embraces life to the fullest. B is one of those people who you always want to be around. She has such a bubbly personality, always wears a great big smile on her face and would drop anything to help anyone at any time. B is one of the most selfless people I know, she is always concerned about others having what they need and puts her own needs on the back burner.

B has had her fair share of rough spots in life. She lost her husband a few years back and has lived alone on the family farm since her son went away to college. Recently, B discovered a lump, had a mammogram and learned that she has breast cancer. B had a choice. She could either let the cancer (her lion) get her down or she could embrace it. She chose to embrace it, to fight. She did not have the slightest problem with losing all of her hair after she began her chemo treatments. She now proudly wears a pink hat or a colorful scarf on her head and it doesn't bother her one bit.

What really touches me is B's positive outlook on her situation. She has no problem talking about the cancer and how it has/is affecting her life. She said to me the other day something along these lines: "You know something, I told God that whenever He's ready to take me home, I'm ready to go." She is SO secure in her faith and her relationship with her Jesus. B is a FIGHTER and I have no doubt that she will beat this thing. What an amazing perspective from a woman with such great strength!

I don't think B realizes it but, God has been using her to touch the lives of those around her. God has used her to open up my eyes. I find myself going through the motions of each day without really embracing life and all that it has to offer. Through B, God has shown me that I need to take off my rose colored glasses and exchange them for new ones.

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. -Philippians 3:12-14