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TRUSTING GOD WHEN THINGS GO WRONG #2
BREAKING THE STARE OF THE SNAKE
Carlos Villas, a Spanish monk who has lived much of his life in India, recalls riding a bicycle rather slowly along a country road when he became aware of an unusual silence all around him. The normal noises and motions of nature seemed to be at a standstill. He was puzzled and curious.
Getting off his bike and standing there looking around, he finally discovered the cause of this mystery. Not far from him, at the edge of the road, there was a snake. Its head was slowly swaying back and forth as it fixed its icy stare on a small bird perched on a lower branch of a shrub. The little bird seemed paralyzed by the snake's motions and stare. It appeared locked in a hypnotic trance, incapable of flying away.
Villas found himself bracing in anticipation of the snake's sudden strike. At the same time, he was wondering if there was something he could do to save this unfortunate little bird. He decided to act. Rushing toward the snake, he waved his arms and shouted loudly, trying to distract the snake and hopefully arouse the bird from its hypnotic trance.
It worked. The snake was distracted, and the bird, free of the spell, instantly spread its wings and took off soaring into the sky. The snake's stare had been broken.
This little story is a fascinating parable of human life, isn't it? You and I find ourselves, from time to time, caught in the stare of the snake. In what way? There are certain things that have the effect of paralyzing us from useful action, things that distract us from our mission in life and so, in effect, freeze our wings and keep us from flying. The stare of the snake immobilizes us and holds us captive.
Let's notice what those paralyzing things are by looking at today's story of Abraham. The story begins in Genesis 12:10.
Not long after Abraham and his family finally enter Canaan, a severe famine strikes. Abraham's flocks and herds have no pasture and starvation threatens his entire camp.
Abraham decides on a plan. Since Egypt still has plenty of food and good pasture land, they’ll go there. So the caravan starts up again. But as they get closer to Egypt, something else starts up inside Abraham's heart. He's coming under the stare of the snake. Notice what it is.
He voices his feelings to his wife Sarah one night. Verse 11: “You are a very beautiful woman. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife. Let’s kill him; then we can have her!’ But if you say you are my sister, then the Egyptians will treat me well because of their interest in you, and they will spare my life.’” (New Living Translation)
So when the caravan arrives in Egypt a few days later and Abraham is welcomed by Pharoah, the deed is done, the lie is told. Well, so much for Abraham as the great hero of faith! How could this act of faithlessness happen?
The truth is, friends, even good people, even great people fail and fail deliberately. Even when you know who you are and know your God-given mission, you are not exempt from human weakness and imperfection. Why? Because all of us have come under the stare of the snake. The Bible says in Romans 3:10, "There is no one who always does what is right, not even one!" (New Century Version)
You and I are born as sinners. From the very beginning, our hearts are paralyzed by the spell of Satan. That's why our choices and our actions so often betray our loyalties. We are in desperate need of deliverance and freedom.
The question is not, why does Abraham fail? The question is, how does God deal with His friend who has failed? How can the stare of the snake be broken?
When Pharaoh sees how beautiful Sarah is, and finds out that she is Abraham's sister, he calls for her to come to his palace, intending to make her another wife in his harem.
But in return, Abraham, the supposed brother, is treated well by Pharaoh and given sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels and servants as tokens of royal pleasure and friendship. So all's well that ends well, right? He may have lost his wife, but at least he kept his life . . . close call! Wrong!
How do you think Abraham feels about all this? Well, have you ever tried living with a lie? How does it feel? Do you find yourself becoming paralyzed from fear of being found out? Fear of consequences? Abraham probably doesn’t feel much peace or security in Egypt even though his family is well taken care of.
But as the rest of the story shows, God's plan has not been frustrated. God isn’t through with Abraham. Listen, friends, God's love and grace are far greater and bigger than anything you and I could ever do. Otherwise, we'd be bigger than God and we wouldn't need Him!
That's why Paul, in Romans 8:38, makes the sweeping declaration that there is nothing in this world, whether in life or in death, nothing in all of creation , which includes you and me, that is able to separate us from the love of God. God's love is greater and bigger than everything, including our actions and choices.
Only God has the power to break the stare of the snake. He's done that through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul writes in Romans 8:1-2, “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. For the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you through Christ Jesus from the power of sin that leads to death.” (New Living Translation)
God has broken the spell and already gifted us with freedom. And as Abraham’s story goes on to show, God’s interested not only in our state of freedom, He's interested in our experience of freedom. That's why God hasn't stopped trying to help us, even though He bought our freedom long ago at the Cross, once and for all. He not only wanted to give the Gift, He wants us to enjoy the Gift.
Notice how all this happens in the story. In spite of Abraham's failure, God intervenes in his mess. Genesis 12:17 says that God sends plagues on Egypt and the royal house. Pharaoh intuitively recognizes these plagues to be judgments from God as a result of him taking Sarah as his wife. So Pharaoh immediately calls Abraham and confronts him with the truth.
Verse 18: "What have you done to me? Why didn't you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say, 'She is my sister,' so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!" (New Living Translation)
God didn't want to leave Abraham in Egypt. He wants Abraham to enjoy his freedom in the promised land. So He sends plagues. And those plagues end up keeping Pharaoh from marrying a married woman and they save Abraham from being kept in bondage in Egypt. See, God refuses to abandon us in our failures. He will do whatever He can to give us back our freedom and help us enjoy it.
But that doesn't mean that we can justify our sins. Abraham doesn't justify his deceitful actions to Pharaoh when Pharaoh confronts him with the truth. He doesn't defend himself or try to excuse his behavior in order to stay in comfortable Egypt. By accepting God's plan for deliverance, Abraham is acknowledging his sin. His leaving Egypt is an admittance of his wrong. His confession helps him live his freedom.
Only God can break the stare of the snake. But if we choose to remain perched on that branch, we're still not free, are we? God wants desperately for us to spread our wings and fly away, to make use of our freedom. Only then can we soar into the skies of our God-given possibilities and really live. By accepting God's grace, we are admitting that we need His grace, and our confession of need moves us from paralysis to freedom.
In Raleigh, North Carolina several years ago, a state patrolman stopped an obviously drunk driver. While he was ticketing the man, there was a multi-car accident on the other side of the divided highway. The officer told the inebriated man to wait while he went across the highway to sort out the accident.
After a while, the drunk driver figured he'd waited long enough and drove on home. He told his wife that if anybody asked, she should say he had been in bed with the flu all day.
Within the hour two state patrolmen appeared the door and asked to see him. The man, still somewhat under the influence, came from the bedroom wrapped in a robe and coughing and wheezing. The officers asked if he had been driving that evening and he said he'd been sick in bed all day.
They apologized for bothering him and asked if they could take a look at his car. So the wrapped-up drunk escorted them to the garage and inside was . . . a highway patrol car, the blue lights still flashing.
The man thought he was free, but in fact he had brought his captivity home with him.
Is that the way it is with you? God has already broken the stare of the snake, but are you still stuck to the branch, refusing to fly away? Do you feel paralyzed by your own failures and sins, immobilized by fear, guilt or shame, unable to live your life with confidence and freedom?
Remember: God hasn't abandoned you. His grace and love are far greater and bigger than anything you've ever done! He has a way of escape today. It's called deliverance - the breaking of the snake's stare by God in order to give you wings again. He's already done that through Christ.
It's called forgiveness - the God-given freedom to start again and fly away. He's already given that in Christ.
It's called confession - our recognition of our state of paralysis, and our willingness to leave our prison perch to fly again. Have you done that yet?
Will you say with me right now, "Thank you, God, for never abandoning me, even when I fail! I accept Your gift of deliverance, I confess my need for forgiveness, I choose your Power to set me free to really live for You!"
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