Spiders and snakes
Jim Stafford had a song many years ago called Spiders and Snakes. One line in the song went like this…”I don’t like spiders and snakes and that aint what it takes to love me.” I just never could figure out why anyone would put the word “love” in the same sentence as the words “spiders” and “snakes”. I don’t LIKE either one of them, let alone LOVE them! Most people feel the same way I do.
One evening I was sitting in the family room with my son when we heard a death-like scream come from the bathroom. My young daughter was taking her evening bath when she began screaming at the top of her lungs. You know the kind of scream I am talking about…the kind that sends goosebumps up and down your spine for you know something horrific has happened. I began to run down the hallway with my son at my heels. As I got to the bathroom, I found her standing up in the tub, screaming. Afraid that she had somehow burned herself on the hot water or something, I screamed back at her, “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” To which she replied, “there’s a bug over there!”
As I turned around, I saw it. I saw the thing that hurled my daughter into screams. The thing that caused my heart to race and panic was a mere little spider. Once I was releaved that my daughter was not hurt, I began to chuckle as I thought about all of the ruckus being made only because of a little itsy bitsy spider.
Luke 10:18-20 (NLT)
“Yes,” he told them, “I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning! Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you. But don’t rejoice because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered in heaven.”
With just one step I was able to crush that spider that day. Once the spider was smooshed, the screams stopped and my daughter became calm. I’ll never forget the look of pure astonishment on her face as she realized that the very thing that frightened her was taken care of with just one step. I guess it never occurred to her that she was bigger than that little spider or that she had more power. Her fear magnified the size of that spider and it left her feeling powerless.
Satan has a way of making us feel that way also. His attacks may not come in the form of a snake or a spider, but he does have ways to cause us to fear. But the above passage says that God has given us authority over the enemy and we can walk among the snakes and scorpions and crush them! That means that those things that leave us tossing and turning at night, the things that we fear, we have authority over it, we can walk thru it and come out victorious because God is with us!
Wasn’t God with Daniel in the lions den?
Wasn’t God with Jonah in the great whale?
Both of those seem pretty scary to me! So why do we doubt that God can be with us in the things that we fear?
2 Timothy 1:7
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
Do you have something that is gripping you with fear today? Step on it. Crush it. Smoosh it. It has no power over you, you are bigger than your fear because God has given you a spirit of power, love and a sound mind!
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Thanks for the encouraging words straight from the Word of God. We must not forget how empowered we are by Him!! Love you sister!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You are right Laurie; there are things that I don’t like much (even fear), but our Lord is with us at all times. Thank you for the reminder to crush what we fear with His help.
I happen to love spiders and snakes and don’t crush anything unless it is deadly….but I do feel Satan’s attacks and have no trouble wanting to stomp on him. And, with God’s power, he can be crushed as well. Thank you for the reminder.
Very timely words for me to read. I am in great fear right now, and needed to be reminded of God’s loving care for me. God is bigger than all my fears, and he can squish them in an instant for me.
Jan
I think the “that aint what it takes to love me” refers to how in younger years, hapless boys trying to make impressions on girls with whom they are smitten do so by plying them with various creapy crawlies…which of course is how they cope with their mixed feelings of being torn between the crush that grips them and their knowledge that girls have “cooties.”