“Snake Handling”

This past Sunday I shared a story regarding a snake that “appeared” in my office a couple of months ago.

Click here you listen and watch the message, titled “Subtle — Part 2.”

No, I have not resorted to “snake handling”; rather, much the opposite.  I said it Sunday and I will continue to say it – the only good snake is a dead one.  No “snake handling” here.  Many of you have asked or inquired about the snake and the story behind it, so here are the “details” and a picture to go with it.

1. When did it happen?  The story did not occur last week; rather they occurred a couple of months ago after the second service.
2. How long was the snake in your office before you found it?  I have no idea and it scares me to death to think how long he had been there: a day, week, a month, I have no idea.
3. Were you and Billy (our associate music minister who helped me “fight it off) scared?  Yes, in fact we screamed and squirmed like a bunch of little girls.
4. Why did you try to hit it with a stick?  Because I did not have my shotgun with me.
5. Would you have actually “shot” the gun in your office at the church?  Yes, I have shared with our finance committee chairman that upon snake related gunshots in my office (no, I do not keep one in there – this is simply an illustrative point) I personally will pay for the repairs.
6. Did you really bring your dog to the office to try to find the snake?  Absolutely, Daisy (my dog) is much faster and has quicker reflexes than I do.
7. Was Traci, your wife, actually the one who found it?  Yes, she discovered it caught on a “trap” (thank you Bill Sewell) while reaching for her purse in my office.
8. Was the snake poisonous?  No, the snake, as the picture shows, was a gray rat snake – not poisonous, but scary non the less.
9. What did you do with the snake?  Billy took it out to our 39 acres of “woods” behind the church.
10. Why did God create snakes or why does He allow them to still exist?

First of all, despite my deploring snakes they truly do have a wonderful purpose for existence on planet Earth.  See this link for many of their benefits and uses to God’s creation.  Secondly, the Bible uses their existence to share with us the subtleness of our enemy, the Devil.  Have you ever heard the phrase, “snake in the grass?”  That phrase, though not found in scripture, is very illustrative.  The Devil will “hide” and “pretend” to not be bothering you so as to “sneak up” and trap and entrap us.

I realize the story of the snake in my office is humorous, but the presence of the Devil in our lives is not.  Take my story lightly, but take the Devil’s schemes seriously.