Bears before giants.

Bears before giants.

Sometimes, I pray things that I really hope don’t come true. I’m not sure if I just like the way they roll off my tongue or if I’m just fooling myself into thinking that I want them to come true. Maybe it’s OK to pray “aspirational prayers,” things you currently don’t desire but would like to desire. I’m not sure, but about a year ago I prayed something I wish God had not answered so swiftly.

The prayer is simple, after reading the story of David and Goliath, I asked God to give me bears before he gave me giants. That is, I wanted to wrestle bears before I fought against giants. Why is that such a stupid prayer? Because bears are hard to wrestle.

Bears have big teeth and claws and are essentially furry, lethal killing machines. So the prayer to have them increase in your life is fairly foolish. But the road to Goliaths, leads through bears and lions. And if you want to do big things for God, at some point you’ve got to deal with a Goliath.

At the time I prayed this I was starting an ad agency that I’ve written about a few times. I was hoping the only Goliath I faced would be staying humble as the millions of dollars poured in from my wildly successful business. Instead, my partner stole all the money and a big bear roared onto my path.

Be careful what you ask for, but don’t think you can get to Goliath without wrestling a few bears first.