When the Snakes Come - Martin Wiles

So the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, and many were bitten and died. Numbers 21:6 NLT

She sat on the porch, oblivious to what her future held.

I did, too, until I got up and walked to our backyard. I noticed a chicken snake sunning in the middle of the yard. Feeling a little devilish, I carefully grabbed the snake behind the head, walked back to the front porch, and showed my wife.

A scream was the last thing I heard before my wife ran into the house and locked the door. But not before she ran in place a few steps, so frightened she couldn’t move. After convincing her I had let the snake go, she came out. I learned quickly how she reacts when she sees a snake. And this was a mistake I didn’t make again. I loved being married to her too much.

God’s people didn’t like snakes either. The snake has a sordid history in God’s economy. Satan worked through one to tempt Adam and Eve to disobey God. Now God sent hundreds of them into the Israelite camp because His people stubbornly disobeyed him on a regular basis.  

The solution for those with poison coursing through their veins? God told Moses to make a bronze replica of a snake and hoist it on a pole. Anyone who looked at it in belief would be healed. I imagine many of them did.

God may not use snakes today, but He does send consequences when we chose to sin against Him. Not because He’s a dastardly deity who enjoys watching us suffer, but because He’s a loving God who knows sin ruins our lives and destroys His purpose for us. Like children who need discipline when they go astray, we do too.

Snakes come in the form of death, which reminds us of sin’s curse. God says the soul who sins dies. Perhaps God’s original plan was for humans to live forever and never experience physical death. Regardless, spiritual death comes to any who refuse to look to God in faith.

God can also send snakes in other forms: financial loss, relationship loss, emotional crashes, discouragement. Whatever the form of the snake, God’s purpose remains the same. He wants us to confess our sins and come to Him in obedience. Only by loving Him with all our hearts and letting go of sinful habits can we experience life’s best.

When God sends snakes into your life, confess any sin quickly and run to Him with obedience.

Prayer: Father, when You send the snakes, move us to make the appropriate response.

Tweetable: What do you do when the snakes appear? 

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