How the Secret of the Snake Changed My Life Forever

Many years ago I struggled with some pretty severe sinful patterns in my life. Some would call them addictions, and if I’m being honest, they were. These weren’t your run-of-the-mill sinful patterns. They were the kind that destroy lives and break up marriages.

Which, for me, they did both.

In the darkest hours of these struggles, I found depression and a desire to end my life. At the worst point, I truly believed there would be no way out except to die.

It wasn’t one specific incident that brought me to that place, but rather a slow fade. There were signs along the way, which looking back, were evident. But over and over again I chose what I wanted in the moment over what I knew would be good and right in the end.

I lived my life the way I wanted to, without regard for anyone else—God included.

On one particular night, when I came very close to ending things, I received a phone from my stepfather, and the words he spoke to me that day changed the course of my entire life.

“Your mother and I are hurting right now because of what you’ve done,” he said, “and we are very disappointed in you. However, I wanted you to know that nothing you have ever done is unforgivable by God, or by us. We love you.”

That phone call literally saved my life.

In the coming weeks, I let God in. I accepted the gift of eternal life, and began to fall in love with Him. I started going to Willow Creek Community Church, where I was welcomed into a family of believers who helped me rebuild my life.

While attending Willow, I was blessed many times by the teachings of John Ortberg.

One of those messages was called “No More, The Power to Stop”, in which he talked about the destruction of addictive and sinful behavior. In typical fashion, John’s opening story caught my attention immediately. It was entertaining, but as he ended, I was blindsided by how life altering it would be.

Here’s an excerpt from that message:

“Gary Richmond used to work at a zoo that had a thirteen-foot-long king cobra. It’s venom glands contained enough poison to kill a thousand adults. The cobra had a scar that made him look like the embodiment of evil, but worse, it meant that when the snake shed his skin, the eye cap did not come off. It had to be removed by hand. And, unfortunately, snakes don’t have hands.

*Photo Credit: Oleh Slobodeniuk, Creative Commons

This required a team of five people: two keepers, the zoo’s curator, a veterinarian, and Gary – whose job was to furnish the scalpel and sponge to the vet. The cobra slithered from it’s den, spread it’s cape, raised itself up to full stature, and looked at the five intruders, deciding on his first victim. He chose the curator. With lighting speed the keepers threw their nets around the writhing snake, the curator grasped it behind the venom glands, and the vet said, ‘Let’s get this over.’ His hands were trembling; beads of sweat were dripping off everyone’s forehead but the snake’s.

The vet asked if Gary had any cuts on his hands.

“No.”

He told Gary to wad up paper towels and stuff them in the cobra’s mouth.

“Okay.”

The cobra bit and chewed until the towels were yellow and dripping with venom.

As the team worked, the curator explained that every year several full-grown elephants die from king cobra bites. A man could never survive a bite with a full load of venom. This is why he was having Gary drain the snake’s venom sacs. The curator’s hands were sweating, and his muscles were weakening; his fingers were starting to cramp – which could not have been good news to anyone except maybe the snake.

The curator wasn’t sure they could move quickly enough when it was time for the release. Then he explained what we might call the secret of the snake:

More people are bitten trying to let go of snakes than when they grab them.

Easy to grab, hard to let go.

John went on to explain, this is true of everything that can destroy human character: deceit, bitterness, pornography, greed, debt, and workaholism. This is the power of addiction, and sin is, among other things, addictive. These sins are serpents that will quickly weaken the human spirit.

After hearing this message, one thing became clear: I needed to stop grabbing snakes. I can’t tell you that I’m without struggle or that I no longer have issues with temptation. That would be ridiculous.

But what I can say is that my awareness of the secret of the snake has been tremendously helpful. When I feel the urge to do something I know will be dishonoring to God, I envision myself holding onto a cobra and trying to let go. I pray and ask Him to help give me the strength not to pick it up in the first place.

My fear of getting bit is sometimes more powerful than the pleasure I think I’ll get by trying to grab the snake. As Mark Twain once said, “It is easier to stay out than to get out.”

And so my life, and the way I view sin, has forever been changed.

How the Secret of the Snake Changed My Life Forever is a post from: Storyline Blog