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.’ ”