Step Near Fear

The prudent (wise) see danger and take refuge, but the simple (foolish) keep going and suffer for it. – Proverbs 27:12 

This is the time of the year in Colorado when, if you’re not careful, you can get a serious sunburn.  It might still be spring, but when you’re outside at over a mile high, the sun can be a scorcher.  

Call me a rebel, but with the blazing sun bright and right over my head, I took the dog for a jog without proper (any) sun protection.  Off we plodded, up the dirt road, around the bend, and down the hill.  Something up ahead in the middle of the road caught my attention.  It looked a branch blown that had been blown down by last night’s winds.  Wait a minute… branches don’t move!

I kept running ahead, getting closer and closer, until my brain caught up with my feet and I realized that the branch was in fact a snake. A SNAKE!  I screeched to a halt, grabbed the dog, and did what most people do when they see wildlife in Colorado; I pulled out my camera, zoomed in, and took an action shot. (Not a selfie, although I thought about it.)

For crying out loud, this snake was HUGE.  It belonged in the Denver Zoo.  Coiled up, this beast would have easily fit in a large pizza box. (If I were cool, like my kids, I would have immediately posted the pic on Instagram.) 

As the snake raised its tail and shook it back and forth, my heart raced.  My feet soon followed, and I grabbed the dog and ran back home.  Picking up the pace, I imagined the snake’s deadly strike to my heel coming at any second.  

I took a shortcut home through the woods and, on arrival, shouted for my husband to get in the car.  We needed better pictures for the blog...  When we got there, the snake was still in the middle of the dirt road.  My husband got out and walked to within a few feet of it.  Repeatedly yelling “that’s too close!” I was wondering how in the world would I explain to our children that their dad had been killed by a snake because we needed a picture for the blog post.

Then the weirdest thing happened. While my mind jumped ahead, cancelling summer plans and planning his funeral, he turned around laughing.  As he approached the car, he burst out, “That’s not a rattlesnake.  Those are two bull snakes mating.  (He used a different word… but not THAT one.)  

I saw fear and death.  He saw sex in the sun!  My feet fled.  His moved closer to get a better look.  Chalk another one up to…things aren’t always as they appear.

When your feet take you to places where fear’s alarm sounds, do you flee or stand your ground?  Do you walk past the danger signs, or do you survey the scene and ask yourself “what’s the wise thing to do?” Too many times to count, my foolish feet have lead me down paths that eventually brought on a heap of suffering.

Andy Stanley, the lead pastor at North Point Church in Atlanta, recently shared in his sermon series, Pack Your Bags, a prayer his family has been praying for over twenty-five years. It goes like this:

Heavenly Father,

Help us see trouble coming long before it gets here.

Then give us the wisdom to know what to do and the courage to do it.

So simple, yet so wise.  I sure wish I had prayed that prayer before my run in with a snake (or snakes) sunning and loving themselves in the road.  

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