1 Samuel 26:9-11
“Don’t kill him!” David whispered back. “The Lord will punish anyone who kills his chosen king. As surely as the Lord lives, the Lord will kill Saul, or Saul will die a natural death or be killed in battle. But I pray that the Lord will keep me from harming his chosen king. Let’s grab his spear and his water jar and get out of here!”
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
I don’t know about you, but I do not like snakes. In fact, they scare me half to death. So when I tell you that we had at least one black rat snake that lived underneath our porch and deck most of the summer, you will probably think I am crazy. I tend to fall into that camp that says “the only good snake is a dead snake!” Had this been a copperhead living underneath our deck, I would probably have begged Greg to send him on to wherever it is snakes go when they die!
We could have killed the black snake. And a couple of summers ago, a “Speckled King Snake” that was hanging out in our yard wandered into the neighbor’s yard, and he did exactly that! But Greg and I both agreed that as long as these “harmless” snakes were in our yard, there was less likelihood that we would encounter the poisonous ones… or so we hoped. And to my knowledge, no copperheads or rattlesnakes were seen in our yard – or near it – this past season. And as much as I dislike snakes – and a big black rat snake on our front porch scared the life out of me a couple of summers ago (and yes, I screamed and ran in the house and left Greg and his mother standing on the driveway!) – I respect the role that this particular reptile plays in keeping our yard relatively safe.
As long as I know to watch for him/her, I trust that he will do his job… and I will do mine… and we will keep our distance from each other! Having said all of this, when the snake ventured into our front yard one day and was very curious about entering the garage while Greg was mowing, he didn’t hesitate to scurry the serpent into the woods and away from the house!
Here’s the deal…David could easily have killed King Saul… and a lot of people would probably have thanked him. But David knew that this was up to God to decide. It was one thing to disarm the king and leave him without water… but to take his life was quite another. And there are many times when we would absolutely LOVE to take matters into our own hands about a myriad of situations… but it’s simply not our place.
We have to respect God and trust Him to handle a lot of things that we are simply not equipped to manage. Most of the time, we don’t have all of the facts. And if we do, we still may often lack the proper wisdom and ability to do or say the right thing. So we must allow God to do what is best and remain faithful that He will create the perfect outcome.
Where have you tried to take matters into your own hands? Where have you made a mess of things in the process? How have you disrespected God by stepping in where you shouldn’t? When have you “killed the snake” that should have been allowed to slither back underneath the porch? Isn’t it time you started communicating more closely with God and allowing Him the final say in things? Will this be the week that you begin?
©2013 Debbie Robus
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