There’s a fascinating African account of how lions strategically take down prey on the African plains. The male lions settle themselves on one side of a watering hole where gazelles and other prey come to drink. The lion will flare his mane, stand as tall as he can and let out a loud, ferocious, blood-curdling roar. This scares the daylights out of the prey and they turn and run for their lives faster than Mr. Roadrunner in the cartoons.
What the prey don’t realize is that they have fallen for a very clever trap set up by the lions. Male lions are slow & lazy and don’t want to chase quarry down. It’s the lioness that chase and attack the prey. The prey are unnerved by the fear of the lions roar and run in the opposite direction – straight into the path of the lioness waiting for them on the other side of the watering hole.
Sometimes we have to ‘run to the roar’ and do the opposite of what seems normal and confront fear. To face a tough situation head-on is often the best choice. Running away can make things worse. It’s really a matter of responding and not reacting! How do we do this?
First we must define what’s causing us fear. Often the ‘roar’ from a tough situation is so loud it creates confusion. Secondly – don’t overanalyze. This can actually lead to “analysis paralysis” as you freeze with non-action. And that’s not going to get you anywhere! And lastly, talk with others. Often just running your ‘challenge’ by another person with a brain will help unlock some new thinking and course of action. Proverbs 24:6 tells us: “For by wise counsel you will wage your own war; and in a multitude of counselors there is safety.”
When we stand up to fear, faith moves in – and when faith moves in, dreams start occurring. So what’s the riskiest or craziest dream you could run after? You see, faith gives a person the willingness to look foolish, and the results speak for themselves. Noah and his family were saved from a flood. David defeated Goliath. The Wise men found the Messiah. Peter walked on water.
If you aren’t willing to look foolish, you are foolish! Because, when you think about it
– it’s the fear of foolishness that stands between us and our dreams.
Social psychologists once carried out a study making distinctions between two types of regret. First there are action regrets — things you’ve done that you wish you hadn’t. And then there are inaction regrets — things you didn’t do but wish you had. What they discovered is fascinating. In the short term, we seem to regret actions over inactions 53% to 47%. Pretty much a toss-up. But – over the long haul, when we look back over our lives, we tend to regret inactions over actions 84%-16%. That’s huge!
84% of our regrets are going to be dreams we never took action on.
There was once a young high school student whose dad was a horse trainer. During his senior year he had to write a paper about what his dreams for the future were. He wrote about owning a 200-acre horse ranch with stable and tracks plus a large home – he even drew a diagram of the property and the design for his house. He turned the paper in. Two days later it came back with an “F” on the front and a note to see the teacher.
After class, the teacher explained to the boy that his dream was ‘unrealistic.’ The teacher said that if he rewrote the paper with a much more realistic dream, he would reconsider the failing grade. The boy went home and asked his father what to do. “It’s your decision,” said the father. The boy kept the paper for a week and then returned it to his teacher after class. “Here,” the boy said, “you can keep the ‘F’ and I’ll keep my dream.”
Brave kid. He ran to the roar. Tony Gaskins once remarked that “If you don’t build your dream, someone will hire you to help build theirs!” So…my final thoughts on this would be a verse from Psalms: “Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.” Dreams give direction – God gives direction. Don’t live life without them.
Bob and Susan Beckett pastor The Dwelling Place City Church at 27100 Girard Street in Hemet. For more information, you may contact them at DPCitychurch.org
