Fear Not Amie More To Come

“Benaiah son of Johoiada was a valiant fighter from Kabzeel, who performed great exploits. He struck down two of Moab’s best men. He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion. And he struck down a huge Egyptian. Although the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, Benaiah went against him with a club. He snatched the spar from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear. Such were the exploits of Benaiah son of Jehoiada: he too was as famous as the three mighty men. He was held in greater honor than any of the Thrity, but he was not included among the Three. And David put him in charge of his bodyguard.” 2 Samuel 23:20-23

Remolding

“When I was a sophomore in high school, I broke my ankle playing basketball. Actually, I was just running down the court in one of our drills, and I tripped over a line on the floor. My ego hurt worse than my ankle! I spent the next month in a cast, and I remember questioning God. After all, He could have kept it from happening. But that broken ankle turned out to be a blessing in disguise….

Now, here’s the thing: I had tried for years to dunk a basketball. It was my holy grail. And ironically, it took a broken ankle for me to first achieve that goal. What seemed like a setback turned into a stepping stone. I dunked my first b-ball while wearing a cast on my left ankle. Here’s what happened: My body simply compensated for its brokenness. When you’re injured in one place, you’ve got to draw more strength from someplace else. My right leg grew stronger to compensate for my broken left ankle. It was brokenness that actually increased my capacity.

In the world of strength training, it is called the principle of supercompensation. When an athlete is pushed beyond the threshold of pain and exhaustion, the body overcompensates. The more a muscle is broken down, the more it builds back up. The same is true of our bones. The two hundred and six bones in the body are constantly going through a process called remodeling. They are being broken down by osteoclasts and built back up by osteoblasts. This process…is intensified when a bone is broken. Extra osteoblasts help rebuild the bone. There is a period of weakness where the bone is more vulnerable to re-injury. That is why we wear casts. But eventually the bone ends up stronger than it was to begin with because the body overcompensates. Very rarely does a bone break in the same place twice because the bone is thicker and stronger than it was before the break…

Almost like a broken bone that needs to be reset, God breaks us where we need to be broken. He fractures the pride and lust and anger in our lives, but He does it to remodel us into His image. And once, we heal, we end up stronger than we were to begin with…

I am not suggesting that you invite adversity into your life. For all we know, Benaiah’s battle with the Moabites and Egyptians was very possibly self-defense. But Benaiah recognized that those adverse circumstances could serve God’s purposes….Each adverse situation was part of God’s remodeling in his life.”

Challenge:

" Where have you [personally] been broken? What adverse circumstances are you facing [right now]? Do you have any overwhelming problems? Maybe God is remodeling you. Maybe the problem you never thought you could overcome will turn into …a [tremendous] opportunity."

The writing shared above is unfortunately not my own, the credit belongs to author/ pastor Mark Batterson. If you get the chance check out Mark’s book “In A Pit With A Lion On a Snowy Day. God has recently used this book as a tool to teach me more about himself. It is my prayer that He is working in your lives as well. Once again – thank you for reading what God has laid upon my heart. Jena