Snakes

I have had a lot of run-ins with snakes lately. Not personally, thank goodness. But, I have had a few dreams, seen some posts on social media, and heard others talk about snakes lately and it’s freaking me out. I don’t mind snakes. I just don’t want to hang around them. And I definitely don’t want to dream about them.

About a month ago, I had my first snake dream. My husband, oldest son, and I all were bitten by a snake. I could see the bite marks on the back of our legs. Same bite. Same location. The dream was very specific that the three of us were bitten and not my other two sons. We went to the hospital, were bandaged up, and sent on our way. No poison. No real injury. Just two fang marks in the back of each of our lower legs.

The very next day, I jump on Facebook and what do I see? A friend who posted a picture of a snake in her yard. Awesome. Just what I wanted to see before having breakfast. Of course, this post terrorized me every time I opened the app. If you want a deterrent from social media, have a friend post a picture of a very large snake. That’ll keep you off. I ended up hiding the post. It was too much snake in too short a time.

A couple nights later, I had another dream. This time, my husband and I were in the same spot in our backyard where we were bit in the previous dream only this time, I was the only one who had the snake encountered. For some reason, I was laying on my back in the grass. Sounds like a good plan when you know snakes are around. Almost as good as going in the ocean when you know Jaws is lurking. Anyway, I digress. I was laying in the grass and all of a sudden, the snake was on me. He climbed up and over me. He was so large, that I heard the  thump when he slithered off of me. Gross. I woke up immediately.

The day after that dream, another friend posted about a very large rattle snake. Again, I had to hide that post. I just couldn’t do the snake thing any more. That night, I heard someone talking about the same rattle snake. Ugh. I cannot get away. And, wouldn’t you know, that very weekend our neighbors asked my eldest to take care of their two pet snakes while they were away. Sweet. Snakes are my life now, apparently. Awesome. Just awesome.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”  The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,  but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman.  “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:1-5

One thing I noticed about all of my snake encounters was, they never hurt me. Sure, I was bitten in the first dream, but nothing happened. The snakes messed with my psyche but never hurt me physically. Interesting.

I look at Eve in the garden in the beginning when she was tantalized by the serpent. He, too, never physically hurt her. Yes, he led her to pain by convincing her to do something she knew was wrong. But, she had a choice to step into that pain. The serpent never struck her; never bit her. The snake didn’t physically hurt Adam and Eve. He only magnified their need for and dependence on God. 

I look at my dreams as a reminder: the snake will come, there is no doubt about that. However, no matter how hard that serpent tries to hurt me, I am protected. I live in victory not for victory for my battle is already won. The snake can slither and wry his way into my life but he will never hurt me because I am clothed in the armor of the Victor.

As much as I don’t like dreaming about snakes, I am thankful for the reminder. When the snake tries to wriggle his way into my life, I can stand firm and confident in knowing he cannot hurt me. He only leads me and amplifies my need for my Savior.

The snake can’t bite you.

Love & Blessings,

Meg