I hate snakes.
This house has several neighbors. The field mice who think my home is there's and I'm still trying to figure out where they are getting in. There are the chipmunks that live under the tree out front, though we've come to an understanding that if they stay outside, I will continue to keep the suet feeders full. There are the fluffy bumble bees whose nest I've located and will leave alone because they are great pollinators for my my greenish brown thumb's attempt at growing vegetables. ...and then there is the snake. Ulgh. In the words of Indiana Jones: I hate snakes.
Today as I went out to check the mail and tend to the flowers, I looked for it as I have since the incident. Now that I know it is there, I know what I am looking for and can often spot it, where before I would have not even seen it camouflaged against the stump. I see what is going on in the world, and I see posts from dear friends. I see conspiracy theories. I see political posts that go every which way. I see posts akin to the sky is falling and posts that are complete denial that there is anything wrong with the world we live in. Do not be deceived, this world is fallen and there will be trouble. The human race was deceived by a snake and we continue to endure the consequences of that single decision to listen to it.
On one side of my driveway is a very large old stump with a cast iron melting pot atop. When I moved in it was filled with dirt, so I took the liberty of filling it with some annuals for some summer long color. Most days I go out and remove the past blooms to encourage the plants to flower and not go to seed, ensuring that the color lasts well through the season. Last week I went out and my five year old followed behind me. As I approached I saw something out of the corner of my eye and I screamed. This wasn't a squeal, this was a full on scream that could have risen the dead. Then I realized what it was: a snake. A simple brown garden snake. In this part of the country snakes are not venomous, but they can still bite, so it's best to leave it alone, and I instructed my son to leave it be. This was its home after all and snakes generally consume small rodents such as the mice that seem to like my house more than their own, and I'm good with that. However, if I find it in my home, all bets are off.
There are deceivers who have smooth words, flattery, and lies that appear as truth that manipulate those who do not have discernment. When the truth presents itself and the snake reveals itself not as part of a an innocuous stump we scream startled out of our own skin that what we thought was the truth is actually not. This is a very hard realization when it is the rock we've lived under most of our lives.
For me, the revelation of lies has been, yes, shocking, but also affirming of my sense that something hasn't been quite right with what on the surface appeared to be fine. This is the importance of the involvement of the Holy Spirit in our lives. It is Holy Spirit who dwells within to reveal within the truth. There are more scriptures on the topic of deceit than I can really present in a single blog post, so I will leave you with this:
My fellow believers, when it seems as though you are facing nothing but difficulties, see it as an invaluable opportunity to experience the greatest joy you can! For you know that when your faith is tested it stirs up power within you to endure all things. And then as your endurance grows even stronger it will release perfection into every part of your being until there is nothing missing and nothing lacking. And if anyone longs to be wise, ask God for wisdom and he will give it! He won't see your lack of wisdom as an opportunity to scold you over your failures but he will overwhelm your failures with his generous grace.
~ James 1:2-5, The Passion Translation ~
In a time when we are all trying to discern what is going on, what is truth and what is deceit, ask and He will show you. It's a promise.
Not shaken,
Ruth