We continue the series “Courage” today...

 ... 2 Samuel 23:20-21 (NLT2) “There was also Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant warrior from Kabzeel. He did many heroic deeds, which included killing two champions of Moab. Another time, on a snowy day, he chased a lion down into a pit and killed it. Once, armed only with a club, he killed a great Egyptian warrior who was armed with a spear. Benaiah wrenched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with it.” With God we can defy the odds. 

1. Odd Things About Odds. I am just guessing Benaiah was a two to one underdog when he fought two Moabite champions (warriors). The odds makers would never have given Benaiah a chance against the Egyptian warrior (giant). To start with, the giant had a spear and Benaiah only had a club. For me, a spear wins every time. Let’s not forget about the lion in a pit on a snowy day. I personally would not want to be in a pit with a lion on any kind of day with or without a weapon. A recipe for disaster.

2. Defying the Odds. Benaiah did what lion chasers do. He defied the odds. He didn’t avoid the situation just because the odds were against him. Lion chasers know God is bigger and more powerful than any problem they face in the world. Batterson – “Lion chasers thrive in the toughest circumstances because they know that impossible odds set the stage for amazing miracles. That is how God reveals His glory—and how He blesses you in ways you never could have imagined.” There is a pattern that is repeated throughout Scripture: Sometimes God won’t intervene until something is humanly impossible. And He usually does it just in the nick of time.Mark 10:27 (NKJV) ^“But Jesus looked at them and said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible."

3. Little is Much When God is in it. What do you mean? Think about God’s military strategy in Judge’s 7. Gideon has an army of 32,000 and is terribly outnumbered by the Midianites. God begins to shrink Gideon’s army to 10,000, and then 300. So how big is this army that Gideon and the 300 are going against? Judges 7:12 (NKJV) “as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seashore in multitude.” Impossible odds but little is much when God is in it. The odds had to be at least a million to one but that does not matter when God gets involved. You know the rest of the story. Gideon wins. No, God wins! Romans 8:31-32 (NKJV) “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”