Snake Lessons.

August 30, 2019
Day 1,066

     I've been sad lately. I wrote a little children's book that I wanted to get published. I looked into it and it would cost me $8,000 to get it published. We can't do that. We don't have $8,000 extra dollars laying around. I have been working on other writing elsewhere, but I so want to be a published author. I thought that this might be a fun way to get published and get my name out there so I might get picked up and offered a book deal for my book of essays. More than anything, a writer needs time. And I don't have time. Being paid to write would allow me to have time.

     The other day, Matt called me out to see a large snake crawling up a tree in our yard. He was huge and fascinating. I stood there and watched him a long, long time. I took pictures. I was enchanted. Then I had a thought: Eve was enchanted. In a garden named Eden, she stood a long, long time staring at a snake in a tree. The first sin wasn't all about disobedience. It was about mistrust. God told her not to eat the fruit. Eve thought she knew better. So she ate.

     God has given us specific instructions:

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding." -Proverbs 3:5

"Be still, and know that I am God." -Psalm 46:10

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on." -Matthew 6:25

"He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord." -Psalm 112:7

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." -Joshua 1:9


     The list goes on. We are commanded to live boldly, to be brave, and to trust. Mistrust makes you sad. It makes you anxious. It makes you believe all the horrible lies of fear. It turns you into the caretaker of your own soul. We are pretty poor excuses of caretakers of anything, really. We try our best, but we fail. It's inevitable. We are human, after all.

     But there is One who will never fail. There is One who has called us into a glorious day of freedom and cool, fresh air. There is One who beckons to us from a place of grace and love and mercy when we are lying practically dead in a pit of our making. There is One who says to us: Trust me.

     I read this sentence somewhere, and it has always stuck with me. And when I'm feeling particularly anxious, I think on these words: I trust the next chapter because I know the Author.

     Thankful for the One. The Author. And reasons to keep on learning how to trust Him.