Snake-Bitten

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil...Isiah 5:20

Watching the news in 2016 is exhausting.  There's the $600 gun with the 6 figure selling price because it was used to murder a black teenager.  There's those that advocate grown men sharing bathroom space with women and girls.  There are the missing planes, the terrorist attacks, the unclean drinking water, the crooked politicians, the drug related murders, the burgled retirement plans, the widening gap between rich an poor, and perhaps the worst presidential election ever.  Stick around for the commercials and you may catch an advertisement for a TV show where the devil is a handsome protagonist helping the LAPD solve crimes.

It's poison.  It's poison for our minds.  It's poison for our souls.  How do we spread a message of life in a world that has figured out how to profit from it's own destruction?  This week God led me to Psalm 37...twice.  After reading it in full, He led me to Acts 26-28.  I read the chapters in Acts still meditating on Psalms 37.  I began to see the passage in Acts as "middle ground" between the events of today and David's words in Acts.  Paul's adventures in Acts 26-28 are parabolic of the current day as well as illustrative of David's Psalm regarding the calamity of the wicked.

The Setting

Paul finds himself shipwrecked on the island of Malta.  Paul is on this island because he was arrested for preaching the gospel.  Paul decided to appeal to Caesar and was being transported to Rome when a storm leaves him shipwrecked.  Paul would seem to have been on a collision course with Malta as there was a chain of events that resulted in his shipwreck.  In Acts 26:32 Agrippa in his judgement of Paul says, "This man may have been set free if he did not appeal to Caesar."  In Acts 27:7-8 the weather forces the ship to detour and in verses 9-10 Paul advises against proceeding with the voyage.  Despite ignoring Paul's advice, the ship sets sail and soon finds itself in the midst of a storm.  The angel of the Lord comes to Paul while he sails and tells him that despite the losses the ship has and will endure, no lives will be lost.  After 14 days at sea with little food the 276 men on board found themselves on Malta's shore.

Much like Paul who offered advice to the ship's captain, we find ourselves in situations where those who lead us take us in a direction we would prefer not to go.  Despite outlets to have your voice heard, there are sometimes where your preference is not the chosen route.  It may be because your voice is in the minority.  There are other times when your opinion may be part of the majority, but you lose to a very vocal minority.  In some instances our leaders make decisions with no regard to our preference.  Like Paul, sometimes we find ourselves along for the ride; traveling down a road we would have rather avoided.

Psalms 37:23 tells us that the steps of the righteous man are ordered by the Lord.  When Paul's warnings against sailing out were ignored Paul did not panic or resort to protests that would dishonor Christ.  It is hard to react with a clear head when our path we travel is not the path we choose.  While protest may be appropriate, protesting in a manner that shames the name of Christ is never appropriate.  Our objections should be presented in a way that does not hinder us from witnessing to a sinner or restoring a brother.

The Snake

Snakes do not have good reputations in the bible.  They most often represent loathsome creatures who are crafty and without morals.  Acts 28:3 does not simply call it a snake, but a viper; the connotation adding that the snake is also poisonous and deadly.  

I compare the viper in Acts 28 with the evildoers in Psalm 37.  Snakes themselves are amoral, but represent the immoral; the evil doers and workers of iniquity (Psalms 37:1).  Psalms 37:12 tells us that the evil plot against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them.  This is similar to a viper who is an ambush predator.  Vipers are typically not large enough to devour humans, but they will ambush and bite humans.  Psalms 37:32 reiterates the relationship between the righteous and the wicked stating that the wicked watch the righteous and seek to slay them.  

In our lives there are those who watch us to study us.  They don't study to learn from us or to know us, but they study to plot, to slay and they bear their fangs at us at just the right time.  Psalms 37 tells us that these people are out there but it repeatedly tells us not to fret.  These people are not to arouse fear or anxiety in us.  We are not to lower our character in response to the actions of those with evil plots.  In addition to having feelings of anger, fear, and anxiety, the word fret also means to wear away or consume.  We are not to let the wicked wear us down with their plots.  We are not to fret.  Psalms 37:8 actually tells us that fretting ONLY causes harm.  The bible tells us instead to delight in the Lord; to focus on him.

Understand that people who live in the dark are drawn to our light.  Remember in Mark 5 that the demon possessed man RAN to Jesus when he was afar off.  Some people are attracted to our light because they desire it for themselves.  Understand too that for some our light is a source of shame; a reminder of convictions that they try to silence.  Living in the light attracts darkness.

Living for Christ will mean that some people will plot to destroy us.  That is not an excuse to stop living for Christ and start focusing on the snakes looking to ambush us.  It is not an excuse to become snakes ourselves.  If a venomous snake bites a human, it does not help the human to in turn bite the snake.  We are to trust in Lord, do good, and feed on God's faithfulness.

The Bite

Psalms 37 tells us not to fret, but it never tells us that evil doers will not harm us.  As Christians we are not immune to schemes of the wicked.  Our lives will have pain, betrayal, hurt and embarrassment; often in a public way.  Sometimes Christians are disillusioned when it comes to suffering; believing that it is either punishment of the wicked or the curse of the discontent.  Hebrews 2:10 tells us that God saw fit to make the author of our salvation perfect through suffering.  God allows us to suffer, but our suffering is not in vain.  He uses our suffering to display His power.  People will crowd around to watch a person suffer.  Every public suffering is an opportunity to publicly glorify God.

God did not stop the snake from biting Paul.  The bible says that the snake bit Paul and fastened himself to his hand.  In some instances poisonous snakes will strike without releasing venom.  When a viper latches on however, it is to pump venom into the blood stream of its victim.  There are two types of venom.  One works to immobilize the victim.  The second type is a digestive fluid that devours it's victim.

The bible does not tell us why the venom had no effect on Paul.  Even though God allowed the snake to bite Paul, He may have blocked the venom.  God may have healed Paul after being bitten.  It's possible that God made Paul immune to snake venom like squirrels, mongoose, badgers and certain birds.  Regardless of the reason, we see that the snake's intended purpose in biting Paul was not fulfilled and ultimately the snake perished in the fire.

The schemes of the wicked cannot catch God off guard.  The venom of the wicked is not stronger than the power of God.  This is the reason that we have for not fretting.  It is God who will make us immune to their poisons.  It is God who will keep us from being devoured on the inside.  The wicked plot to sink their teeth in us and inject doubt, fear, bitterness, rage, and other things to make us go astray.  God has the power to keep us in tact through each of these attacks.  This is why we don't need to fret.

The Witnesses

When Paul was bitten by the viper there were people on hand who watched him.  They watched expecting his demise.  When he did not die from the venom of a viper they thought him a god.  It is for calling these people that sometimes God allows us to suffer publicly.  It was not Paul who was a god, but God who kept him.  By not fretting and staying true to God through venomous encounters we are bearing witness to the power of God to these people.

I will go to him

My favorite part of +Danny N 's pregnancies is the ultrasounds.  As a Dad, I don't feel the fluttery kicks, the gentle shifts, or the morning stretches.  Until the baby's bones were hard enough create alien like shifts in my wife's stomach I was basically a bystander.  Even after the baby was strong enough to push out I was never sure what part of a baby I was interacting with.  Was I talking to her butt thinking it was her head?  Was I high-fiving a foot?  The only thing I knew for sure was that pregnancy for me was anxious anticipation.  It's akin to watching your parents buy your Christmas present on Easter.  You know what's inside the box, but for the better part of the next year it won't be available for you.  Ultrasounds are awesome though because they provide small glimpses of the person you can't wait to meet.  They provide a measure of clarity to a murky situation.  They are the first glimpses of a child.  They put a face to the frequent bathroom trips, the heartburn and the rhythmic punches and kicks.  They provide a glimpse into the child's personality.  They are valued sneak peaks that temporarily quell then subsequently feed the anticipation of this addition to our family.

Some of us however go through all the stages of pregnancy, manage all of the anticipation for a child that does not survive pregnancy, or survives birth but never makes it home.  For me to speak about this experience would not do it justice as I've never experienced it as a parent.  I've only experienced, as a neighbor, a co-worker, and a friend.  I can't offer soothing words based in experience, only an ear, a shoulder, and prayer.  So as another family my wife and I love goes through this journey again we hope that these may be the right words to find you at the right time and offer comfort in this difficult season:

When you study the life and writings of David in the bible you will see ties between his life and prophesy.  David wrote some, fulfilled others, and was the head of a bloodline that fulfilled even more.  David's understanding of Christ was more than most during the old testament could imagine.  In Psalms 110:1 David writes "The Lord said to my Lord."  This shows knowledge of Jesus Christ as well as His relationship with God before the birth of Christ.  David not only has prophesy about the relationship of Christ, but also the death and resurrection of Christ.  David had a divine understanding of the future, of death, and of life after death.

David understood these things, and like some who read this, David also lost a child.  Set aside the circumstances of why God took the life of David's child and lets look at David's reaction:

¹⁹ But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead: therefore David said unto his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead.
²⁰ Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the Lord, and worshipped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat.
²¹ Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread.
²² And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether God will be gracious to me, that the child may live?

²³ But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.  (2 Samuel 12:19-23)

I don't include this passage to encourage mourning parents to fast forward through the grieving process.  I include this passage to encourage you that while you can not bring you children to you; my saved friends one day you will go to be with your children.  They are on the other side of the ultrasound now; living life as God intended with no sickness or sin while we toil away in a world attempting to distance itself from God.  1 Corinthians 13:9 says that we know in part, and we prophesy in part but when the perfect comes the partial passes away.  

To my brother and sister in Christ whom this was meant for.  Your children have been made perfect.  They have the fullness of Christ.  They know each other.  They know their grandmother.  They know their parents.  They know you.  They love you.  They understand that God has more down here for you because they understand His will, but they wait anxious for the day when you will go to them.  We're praying for you both as you continue to run this race understanding that there are extra special blessings awaiting you at the finished line.

With Love

Danielle and Stuart