Snakes Alive!!

“Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.” Proverbs 4:25

While driving one day, minding my own business, my eyes drifted from the road and onto this sight. 

“Snake!” My mind told me. “A huge snake!” 

I was probably driving between 45 and 50 miles per hour so I passed it up quite quickly. I’d say the entire scenario had taken place in all of five seconds. Yet, though my vehicle and my physical self was moving on, my mind stalled back at the bridge where I glimpsed the humongous snake wrapped around the tree. 

All kinds of thoughts had entered my mind in those five seconds and I continued to dwell on it the rest of the way home. That was a huge snake wrapped around the tree. I didn’t know we had snakes that big in our area. And, on and on. 

In fact, I even determined in those few brief moments to take another look the next time I drove past the spot. I was distracted, and a bit fearful, to say the least. 

Isn’t that just like us though? As we go throughout our days, we sometimes catch a glimpse of something and suddenly become distracted. We might not physically stay there, but our minds do and they conjure up all kinds of nonsense which can leave us out of kilter. Especially for those who have been blessed with vivid imaginations!

Distraction. The definition of the word is:

 something that makes it difficult to pay attention or that draws attention away from. 

That snake distracted the rest of my trip home -  and part of almost every trip I’ve made since then. 

Distractions can get us off course. They can make us disoriented. They cause us to get our eyes off of our destination and cause our attention to be captured and stay stuck in the here and now. 

Distractions hinder us from going forward and looking ahead. 

The next day, when I passed the spot. I slowed my vehicle to a crawl and...the snake was STILL there. Only, it wasn’t a snake at all! It was only an old vine perfectly wrapped around the tree to resemble the slimy creature. Yet it had distracted me. 

I had been fooled. I had been distracted by something that wasn’t even real. I had felt a tinge of fear for nothing. I felt a little silly. Ashamed. Yet, the whole idea jolted my spirit: distractions can cause just the same havoc within my soul. 

It’s one of the schemes of the enemy. Used since the beginning of time, how perfectly was it that this distraction had appeared to be a snake? I don’t know too many people who don’t become overwhelmed and terrified when face to face with a live snake. Yet, this one had not even been real, only in my mind - just a figment of my imagination. 

Circumstances and situations in our lives can cause us to become distracted. Life brings with it it’s own distractions every day. It can be the simplest things too! We have to be vigilant and on guard so we won’t become overwhelmed and frightened to the point of freezing in motion or giving up. 

This imaginary snake serves as a reminder to me every day, what I’m sensing might not be the real thing. I might be being fooled. I need to look closely and stay on guard. I can’t afford to be nonchalant in my daily walk. Can you? Distractions come in every shape and size, and some even with a face and name on them. 

Let’s keep our eyes, hearts and minds attentive. Those distractions will tempt us to look away, and threaten to steal our joy, but we must keep our eyes on Jesus, not the distractions. Easier said than done sometimes, but God!

What it looks like and what it is could be two different things. 

It’s a simple object lesson, but true. Whatever we come in contact with today isn’t worth losing our sight and purpose over. The struggles we endure aren’t worthy of besetting us. That relationship isn’t important enough to allow it to sidetrack us or make us quit. Let’s not fall into that trap! Instead, let’s allow every opportunity for distraction to push us closer to the Master and into our purpose and future mindfully. 

Snakes alive! Or not. Let this be a reminder. What’s taking your eyes off of the road today?