“There is a Lion in the Road!"

The lazy man says, “There is a lion in the road! A fierce lion is in the streets!” Proverbs 26:13

Old-time missionary with leopard

A few years ago I stumbled upon Proverbs 26:13 and it has changed my perspective about "good excuses." This verse doesn't say that the fearful man says, "There is a lion in the road!" No, it is the lazy man that says it. 

In Israel at that time there really were lions, but the chances of a person seeing one on the street were slim. However, a man's feigned fear of lions was much more accepted socially than coming out and saying he was too lazy to go out to tend his fields.

During our first year of refugee work, my heart was often filled with fear. I was not afraid of snakes, spiders or scorpions, all of which were in our yard at various times, but I was afraid of people. Not afraid they would hurt me so much as I was afraid they would not be satisfied with me. In fact, I had a classic case of the biblical disease, "the fear of man." I desperately wanted to go to an easier place to minister. "Easier" being the operative word.

Thankfully God got my heart and transformed my thinking. The fruit of my surrender to continue on with our work in the Ivory Coast among the Liberian refugees has indeed been sweet. 

The lazy woman can says, “There are people in the road!" But the wise woman says, "My God has something better for me than my fears. His great and might power at work in me!" 

My son-in-law, Kevin Kejr, with a dead boa

See No Longer Playing the Part of the Martyr.

See "Hey! I'm Mr. Potato Head!" and other Possible Untruths.