A Snake in the Hands of a Child

I was recently reading the story of the To Write Love on Her Arms organization on their website and came across this paragraph.

“She hands me her last razor blade, tells me it is the one she used to cut her arm and her last lines of cocaine five nights before. She's had it with her ever since, shares that tonight will be the hardest night and she shouldn't have it. I hold it carefully, thank her and know instantly that this moment, this gift, will stay with me. It hits me to wonder if this great feeling is what Christ knows when we surrender our broken hearts, when we trade death for life.”

That last line caused me to begin to ponder something that I’ve always sub-concisely wondered, but it wasn’t something of deep concern. I wondered why God would care so much for us to bring all our problems to Him. Yes, He cares for us, but I mean think about it, why would it make Him even joyful of the fact of us bringing everything of ours to Him. The majority of what we have to offer is junk anyway, so why would He delight in us, as it says in 1 Peter 5:7, “casting all our cares upon Him”? I believe its a bit like this:

Imagine a little child running around with a deadly snake, not realizing the danger(or maybe he does realize it). The child can’t just put the snake down by himself, because even if he did know the danger, it will just turn back on him and strike him, and the young boy doesn’t have the power to destroy the snake on his own. Now the father of this boy sees him with the snake and fears for his son’s life. The wise father knows the boy can’t put it down on his own, so he requests for the child to give it to him. When the son submits the danger to his father, the father has the power and knowledge on how to destroy the snake, but more importantly in our story, it’s a great relief to the father for his beloved child to be out of danger.

That snake could be anything, from sin to anxiety to disbelief in the fact that we are forgiven and loved, but no matter what kind of burden it is, it’s dangerous because it gets between us and our Father. This is why it’s a beautiful things to our heavenly Father when we sacrifice our “snake” to Him. He’s simply relieved to be holding what endangered the lives of/relationships with His beloved children.

Another thing that came to mind is that when we hold on to that “snake” because we doubt in God’s forgiveness, we’re denying the power of the cross that will destroy it. The other day I was overwhelmed with this picture of how each time I sin and can’t bring it to Jesus for forgiveness, He’s standing right behind me, crying over me, just waiting with out-stretched arms, nailed to a cross because that’s where I put Him. Each time we doubt in His forgiveness, we’re placing Him back up there.

So I have been reassured that the Father delights when His children pour out their hearts.

 

“Then Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.’ ”

Antonyms in War

Bitterness is a sneaky thing. It starts small and gradually grows larger if it goes unattended. Often one might not notice until its a large cancer, but by then, its roots go so deep that its hard to remember, “Why should I get rid of this?”

Or maybe its how do I get rid of it?

There doesn’t seem to be a quick fix the bitterness. It’s something our flesh and pride wants to hold on to. Ephesians 4:31 clearly says, “Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior.”

As I read this I thought, “God, how do I simply get rid of bitterness, or as the King James says, “put it away” from myself?”

I didn’t have to look very far for an answer to my question, God simply lead me on to the next verse.  Ephesians 4, verse 32, says, “Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ as forgiven you.” As I read the beginning I kinda thought, “Hmm, sounds familiar.” Flip to 1 Corinthian 13, and BAM! Verse 4 begins with “love is patient and kind”. So I remembered a wise horse trainer once telling me that you can’t train a horse out of a bad habit, but you can replace the habit with a good one.

You do this because bad and good are opposites, they cannot co-exist. Light chases out darkness, evil must flee good, and faith overcomes fear. I’ve always found this interesting.

But getting back to 1 Cor. 13, I thought, “Ohhhhh, duh, love is the opposite.” Bitterness is to be resentful towards someone, so naturally, wouldn’t the opposite be to love that someone? Ummm, yeah pretty much. Pretty simple, but it rocked my little world.

It caused me to do something a little… abnormal. I found the person I held bitterness towards, and I stepped out in did something in love towards them.

Bitterness? Bye-bye.

It was a small, simple, and to me stupid, bitterness but love canceled it. To deal with larger bitterness can be tougher. The longer its been there, the harder it is to dig up and get rid of it, but the principle doesn’t change. It just takes prayer for God’s love(‘cause mine just won’t do), and a lot more faith.

I just heard a wise women say today, weeks after I first learned this lesson, that love is a weapon. Gooooooooood way to put it! It is a deadly weapon, destroying all its opposites(have I said opposites enough?).

This lesson begun with bitterness, lead into love, and, to me, can be summed up with 1 Peter 4:8, “Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.”

God’s love sent His Son to die, covering our sins, now our love covers other’s sins, and I’m learning, also covers our sins in the process. If that’s what love does, looks like I need more of it in my life.