1 Chronicles 11:22
“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.”
When David goes through the mighty men in his army, he brings up the name of Benaiah. There is something that is missed about Benaiah that should be recognized by all. It says that Benaiah was “the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done many acts.” In other words, Benaiah was no stranger to great works. He grew up seeing his dad have the courage to stand and fight. He grew up watching his dad perform valiant acts of faith. Seeing great works was something that he was used to.
What I love about Benaiah was that he didn’t settle for less. He didn’t have the mentality that he couldn’t do what his father had done. In fact, Benaiah ended up doing more valiant acts than his father had done. Did that make his father any less of a great man? Absolutely not! It showed that his father had trained him well.
We live in times when it is accepted that the present generation cannot do what their fathers have done. We hear how you can’t build churches like they used to do, and I say that is absolutely false. We hear the stories of faith from our parents, and for some reason we have settled for less acts of faith. For whatever reason, many don’t have the same drive and vision of their parents.
If we want the next generation to do more, parents must start raising expectations for their children. I have watched many parents lower the expectations for their children, and then we wonder why they don’t live the way they should. Friend, never lower the standard or expectations. What caused the previous generation to do so many mighty works was that somebody kept the standard high. The next generation needs to be challenged to do mightier acts. Don’t settle for less.
Moreover, the next generation should do mightier acts than their predecessors. The reason they should do more is because they should have learned from their predecessors how to do mighty works. For instance, I should do more than my father has done in the ministry because I grew up learning from him. He started further behind than where I started. If I don’t do more, it is a shame to me and not to him. You should take what you have learned from your predecessors and build upon their experience and faith.
Furthermore, when each generation builds upon the works of the previous generation, there is a continuation upon the journey of reaching the world for Christ. The only reason the present generation isn’t doing as much as their predecessors is because someone lowered the expectations. Don’t allow excuses to do less. Challenge people to find a way to overcome the obstacles they face.
Whenever you lower the expectations and settle for less, you are telling that generation that God’s power has been tapped out. God is still looking to do great works in this generation. I challenge you to build upon your predecessors and prove to this world that God is still in the business of doing mighty works through individuals today.