Acts 28:1-6 NLT
Once we were safe on shore, we learned that we were on the island of Malta. [2] The people of the island were very kind to us. It was cold and rainy, so they built a fire on the shore to welcome us. [3] As Paul gathered an armful of sticks and was laying them on the fire, a poisonous snake, driven out by the heat, bit him on the hand. [4] The people of the island saw it hanging from his hand and said to each other, “A murderer, no doubt! Though he escaped the sea, justice will not permit him to live.” [5] But Paul shook off the snake into the fire and was unharmed. [6] The people waited for him to swell up or suddenly drop dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw that he wasn’t harmed, they changed their minds and decided he was a god.
The one thing I absolutely cannot stand is a snake, not even to look at a picture of it, and I guess that goes for a lot of people.
Apostle Paul and 275 others were sailing across the Mediterranean Sea, Paul on his way to stand trial before Caesar in Rome, when they encountered a horrendous storm that caused the ship to break up into the bay of the unknown island. The crew jumped ship and drifted safely to the island as God promised Paul.
Paul soon makes himself useful. The fire which the natives had kindled for the shipwrecked victims needed more wood to keep it going. Paul did not plead exhaustion and fatigue, nor did he complain about the rain, wind, and the cold. Neither did he fight for a place near the fire, instead he went about gathering more wood for the fire for the benefit of others. As Paul was throwing sticks into the fire, a venomous snake fastened on his hand. Paul did nothing but shake off the snake.
When life and people make it a point to attack us, we don’t have to try to get back at them, we just shake them off! Romans 12:17 teaches us not to recompense evil for evil.
The venom of a viper is very deadly, agreed, but so too are lots of the issues and people we face in life, one thing we must remember about people who have a snake mentality is that they hide behind things, and will only show up when you least expect them to.
They camouflage themselves behind love and wait to strike. They may camouflage themselves behind the pulpit, behind choir robes, as elders, pastors and more but still strike when provoked.
There is so much turbulence, trials, tribulations, and troubles in the world, presently, for humanity to know that the devil doesn’t care about us because his objective is to steal, kill, and destroy according to John 10:10. This is the reason Satan attacks God’s people, even when they are in the centre of God’s will like Paul was, consider for a minute, what if Paul hadn’t shaken the viper off? Bad things happen to everyone even when they’re in the will of God-the enemy doesn’t relent in his pursuit for world and soul domination, so he comes after us again and again.
The viper bite was the ultimate of “things” that happened to Paul, that should have killed him and taken him out of the picture of God’s plan, he would have gone to be with the Father, but he won’t have finished his assignment.
We too must learn to overlook some things, ignore what people say, look past how people roll their eyes at us, or stab us in the back, in other words, we’ve got to learn to shake it off. Through the power of God, we can also shake off the challenges that are thrown at us.
Nothing should find a landing strip in our lives to attach itself to our detriment. Shake it off!
Whatever may trouble you from the past, shake it off! God has a great future planned for you. Your future has no room for snakebites and venom of the past! Shake it off!
Shalom