Walking the path

(2-minute read)

One morning, my wife stepped into our bedroom closet, turned on the light, and saw a snake on the floor. I was out of town, but she heard voices at the back of our house and ran for help. They got the snake and took it away. A week or two later, I walked into our bedroom, flipped on the light, and discovered a snake on the floor. I dealt with the snake in a rather unkind way, and the incident was over. It was a new house that had been recently constructed, and I found how the snakes got in and repaired it.

I noticed that as I was stepping into a dark room at home, it was as if I could feel the snake. I got in the habit of reaching in and flipping on the light before I walked into the room. I noticed that my wife was doing the same thing. I really dislike snakes. Someone once told me that it was too bad I wasn’t in the Garden of Eden. There would have been two trees, the Tree of Life and the tree with the dead snake on it. I’m sure it wouldn’t have worked like that, but I caught their meaning.

The caution my wife and I used before stepping into those dark rooms is a normal human reaction. Our brains are trying to keep us safe. This tendency of our brain can sometimes be a problem for us. When I’ve been healed of an illness, either by a doctor, the Lord, or the body’s natural healing process, I sometimes find myself looking for the snake of that illness. I will look for the symptoms, the feelings, or any sign that it’s come back. The fear of the snake can have as much control over my life at times as the real snake.

The worst thing that I’ve done is when a problem or illness became part of my identity. I did it with both PTSD and with dyslexia. That was like building an altar to those things and letting them control my life. As much as I hate the thought of doing it, I had to learn to screw in my courage and step into dark rooms. I’m not alone. The Lord is with me. Since dealing with little things like snakes, PTSD, and dyslexia, the Lord has been able to take me into rooms with stuff I was more afraid of than snakes. I usually think about the fact that I’m holding the Lord’s hand in times when I’m afraid, but the reality is the Lord is holding mine. The snake in my life currently is a health problem that’s trying to completely control me. But, the Lord is telling me I am his, and this life is connected to the one to come. He wants me not to worry about when and where that connection is and live my life. He’ll be there when I have a problem.

Photo by Egor Kamelev