Have you ever noticed how sometimes the Bible tells a story in great detail while other times, it just skims the surface of the event?  When you come upon one of these less-detailed stories, does it make you ask a lot of questions, or is it just me?  Take, for example, this short account about one of David’s mighty men.

“Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done many acts; he slew two lionlike men of Moab: also he went down and slew a lion in a pit in a snowy day. ”

Say what now?  He slew a lion in a pit on a snowy day.  Let’s talk a little more about that, right?  But, that’s all the Bible says about it.  Well, actually, there’s another passage that tells about this mighty man, Benaiah, but it doesn’t really shine any more light on the event.

“And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man, of Kabzeel, who had done many acts, he slew two lionlike men of Moab: he went down also and slew a lion in the midst of a pit in time of snow: ”

I don’t know about you, but I’d like to know a whole lot more about this story.  It was a heroic event, no doubt, but what exactly took place that day?  It was snowing.  There was a man and a lion and a pit.  But how did this great slaughter come about?  I have so many questions.

Did the lion sneak up on Benaiah?

How did they both end up in a pit?

What sort of weapon did Benaiah use?

Did the lion taunt Benaiah or simply attack without warning?

How long did this whole process take?

These are just a few of the inquiries that come to mind when I read this short account.  And while I don’t have all the answers about that story, I can tell you about my own recent battle with a lion in a pit on a snowy day…or days.  The pit was named Despair.  And the lion?  He goes by the title, Discouragement.  Allow me to back up a bit to set the scene.

Since the end of 2020, we have driven over 6,000 miles and been in 14 different churches.  In that time, only one of those churches has taken us on for support.  One!  In the past two weeks, we’ve driven from Ohio to Wisconsin to Arkansas and then Missouri and experienced snow, ice storms, and sub-zero temperatures.  While we were plenty warm snuggled inside our motorhome, the motorhome itself did not fare well in such weather (neither did our tow-along vehicle, the Xterra).  On more than one occasion, our car doors and bay doors froze shut.  The hot water heater completely froze.  The water lines leading into the coach froze.  Even the items in our refrigerator turned to ice because of the vents exposed to the outside air.  As you can imagine, this quickly became frustrating.

In the past week, all three of our scheduled church services canceled because of bad weather, but unfortunately, the cancellations didn’t take place until we had driven to the various locations.  The churches were kind enough to give us a love offering to cover our travel expenses and to invite us to come again at a later date, but the overall situation was quite discouraging.  Little did I know, the worst was yet to come.

In an effort to get out of the way of an incoming storm, we headed out the following Monday morning, hoping to reach our destination in 8-10 hours.  We never made it.  Instead of outrunning the storm, we headed straight into it.  A little more than halfway through our journey, the blizzard-like conditions caused an accident a little way in front of us.  The traffic in front of us slammed on brakes, and Jason did the same, but with the icy roads, we had no traction.  We collided firmly into the tractor-trailer in front of us.  The good news is neither of us was injured.  The bad news is our motorhome didn’t come out unscathed.  In fact, after speaking with the insurance adjuster today, we’re pretty sure it’s totaled.  And suddenly, the lion I was battling grew by leaps and bounds.

I’m writing this post from a hotel room in Marion, IL.  Over the past couple of days, I’ve bounced between being grateful to be alive and heartbroken over losing our home and friend.  I’m confused, overwhelmed, and devastated.  At times, I’ve been able to hold it together and keep my fragile faith intact, but other times, I’ve come completely undone.  I’ve cried.  I’ve questioned.  I’ve battled that stupid lion until I was completely spent.  Even now, I’m staring down that enemy and wondering which of us will come out victorious.  I wonder if that’s how Benaiah felt on that snowy day so long ago.

At this point, we have no idea how to proceed.  Tomorrow, we plan to pick up a U-haul trailer and a lot of storage boxes and pack up everything out of the RV.  From there, we plan to leave out on Friday to head to our next meeting in Alabama.  After that, we just don’t know.  I do know this, though—we have a lot of precious friends and family members praying for us.  We have received countless phone calls, text messages, FB messages, and more over the past few days.  People have offered help in so many ways.  We are overwhelmed by how many prayers are being offered on our behalf and how many people are willing to do whatever they can to help us through this trial.  Their intervention has served as a reminder to me that I don’t have to face this lion alone.  Our Christian family has banded together to aid us in this battle.  And with God on our side, we know we cannot lose.

I will keep you posted on our progress.  I don’t know what the future holds, but fortunately, I know Who holds the future.  In the meantime, I think I’ll do my best to avoid any more snowy pits.  They’re dangerous!