The lion. Known as the king of the jungle. The alpha predator, top of the food chain. A 500lb beast. All these are things Benaiah probably thought about when he chased one down. To him that was his ultimate goal. Track down, chase, and slay the 500lb beast of a lion. As referred to in an earlier post we all have the big hairy audacious goal, or as it’s called in Chase the Lion by Mark Batterson, a 500lb lion-sized goal. As we’ve talked about taking the path less traveled and planning and preparing, now it’s time we talk about the chase.
So much of our year so far has been transitioning to come out of the year of 2020, and the craziness that it was. To now, working to set ourselves up for success. Working to achieve the goals we have, has revolved around focusing on our mind, preparing for the battle (because chasing the goal isn’t easy), getting mentally, physically, and emotionally strong, and the list goes on. It’s vital to success and if you look at any example in the lineage of sports greats, you’ll see it. Jordan spent hours in the gym perfecting his shot and skill, Peyton Manning kept the offense after practice ended and worked through stuff for an hour. Benaiah, as he prepared to chase the lion, did the same thing. He was a warrior, a soldier, who trained with the use of weapons and tracking. He had the skills, and he was prepared.
Preparation is part of it. And Benaiah was ready. No doubt about it he was prepared to die when he stormed into that cave, but I can’t imagine he wasn’t a little scared. 2 Samuel 23:20 says, “He went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion.” I don’t know about you, but when I look at the 500lb lion story, I think to myself, “Would I have chased the lion?” Four paws full of claws, and a mouth full of teeth ready to tear me apart… and I’m standing there with a spear, in the snow where I know I move slower than on dry land. But this is where fight or flight comes in. I’d like to think I’m the fight type of person, but at that moment, it definitely starts to make you think twice. Fortunately for us, I doubt we will be literally chasing lions into pits, but the lion is beautiful is a metaphor for the big, intimidating dreams and goals we set for ourselves.
Put that into perspective. Whatever the ultimate goal is; do you choose fight or flight? Does it make you back down or stand up and chase? See that’s the thing, it’s ok to be scared. It’s ok to fear the goal. My dad used to tell me a long time ago, before games, “If you’re not nervous, you’re not ready.” It’s good to feel the emotion and the anxiousness, it means you want it. That you are chasing success. The nerves tell you to get into the fight. It may be scary, but it’s worth it.
More often than not, the success of a goal seems to be more about the process and the chase than actually succeeding at the goal once you get there. The chase is where the grit happens. Where 2 am courage comes into play. Think back to Jordan. For Jordan to be the GOAT, he had to work at his game, prepare in advance, and attack the chase with everything he had. Being the best ever is what we celebrate, but just watch the Last Dance on Netflix. When you see the journey and the path he took, his success and end goal becomes a lot easier to understand.
So, remember that. To be successful and achieve the end goal, to slay the 500lb beast, you must excel at the chase. It’s ok to be nervous and fear the chase. As Mark Batterson says, “if your dream doesn’t scare you, it’s too small.” You’ve prepared and planned; you know the path less traveled comes with discomfort. Look back on the goals you’ve set, the goals we’ve talked about in the past. Do your dreams and goals scare you? What’s your 500lb lion of a goal? Choose fight over flight. Chase the goal.
WORKOUT
Chasing the lion-sized goal takes work. It can be intimidating. But we have to choose to fight, we must trust our planning and preparation and chase. The chase is putting our preparation to the test.
So, to help with this, this week’s workout will be another HIIT workout. But instead of each block specific to an area of the body, it is going to be a full-body circuit mixed together.
For this workout, use the WOD app or a stopwatch. We are going to perform 40sec work and 20sec of rest. Go through each block three times. Take a minute break after each block is complete.
Block 1:
– Squat Holds
– Push-ups
– Mountain Climbers
Block 2:
– Stationary Lunges (alternating leg each rep)
– Burpees
– Plank get-ups (alternating lead arm each rep)
Block 3:
– Air Squats
– Plank Hold (push-up position)
– Russian Twists
Block 4:
– High Knees (in place)
– V-Ups
– Glute Bridge
Hammer and Anvil 