Snakes

Snakes....I hate them!

While working in my basement office, I heard a faint thud and caught movement out of the corner of my eye. There on the step, was a snake—lying still—stunned by the impact. It had fallen from the foundation onto the basement stairs. It wasn’t a big snake—it doesn’t matter; I hate snakes.  

They seem to appear out of nowhere, startling me out of my wits.

In a split second, I grabbed a pair of scissors, thinking I could either pick it up or worse, cut it in half—I wasn’t fussy. (Note to self: attempting to cut a stunned snake in half “unstuns” him). Both failed. It slithered away as I stood there with trembling scissors in my hand.

This was the second time in a week a snake had startled me in the work room. One caught in the phone wires and hung there writhing. The previous summer a parade of baby snakes slithered past my feet while I sat at the computer. 

It was such a problem, I devised a snake catching kit—nothing fancy, just my version of a Have-a-Heart-Attack-Trap—a small covered box and a pair of tweezers. I caught each baby and took them outside, letting them go in the woods. The only one I couldn’t rescue had landed deep in a spider’s web and wiggled crazily while mama spider prepared lunch.

I wonder if Eve felt this way when the serpent slithered into the Garden and began to sweet talk her into eating the fruit God had forbidden. 

This is Satan’s way. He nonchalantly falls in our path when we least expect it and begins to weave his story. He woos us into believing his lies and half-truths. He tempts us into trying the “apple” while assuring us the consequences are not what they appear.

A few snakes manage to slither into my life too—always when I least expect them. The only thing that will cut them down to size is the Word of God because lies are exposed only by the Truth. You can be sure I won’t use a Have-a-Heart-Trap either—only a Sword will do.

“Take the…Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God…”      Ephesians 6:17

Wage war with His weapons,

Jeanne