Authority Over Creepy Things

Listen carefully: I have given you authority [that you now possess] to tread on serpents and scorpions, and [the ability to exercise authority] over all the power of the enemy (Satan); and nothing will [in any way] harm you.

Luke 10:19 AMP

“HOLLY! I NEED YOU!”

Hearing this yelled out is rarely a good thing. I was already on my way out the door, my youngest son having secured our pets in their kennel. My husband Keith had come storming in the front door moments before while I had been calmly dressing for the day. I heard him say that a rattlesnake had fallen into his office.

I have no idea what I was thinking when I threw my fluffy, gray robe back on and slipped into my flip-flops before heading outside. But before I rounded the corner of the office to find out more information, I heard his yell. I had no weapons in my hand.

We live in the country; so do snakes. About the only time I get any sun is when I’m outside cutting the grass. We keep the whole field in front of our house cut short to deter creating a hiding habitat for creepy crawlers. With all the cutting I’d done, I’d not seen one snake. Now I walked toward the very thing I work to avoid.

Creepy Things

His office door was open and I watched my husband, broom in hand, move items stacked closest to the door. He was watching closely, moving cautiously. He said he needed me to look for it as he reached down and began to move a couple of small boxes out of his way.

Leaning against the building behind the open door was my steel-tooth rake. Glancing around where I would need to place my feet before stepping, I grabbed the rake and pulled it toward me. I began pulling the few items on the floor of the office outside the doorway to where I was standing, watching carefully for any movement.

My husband shifted one of his saxophone cases and I yelled, “I SEE IT!” He froze. I had seen a sliver of silver flash as the body of the snake slithered further under the case toward my husband.

Using the Tools at Hand

Strengthening my grip on the rake handle, I carefully hooked the rake tines under the handle of the saxophone case and pulled it out of the door toward me, exposing the snake. Quick as a flash, my husband simultaneously pinned the snake’s body with a yardstick and stepped on the small, triangular head of the snake.

I didn’t scream. I fixed my eyes on the long, thin tail of the young snake as it shook, rattling, and then curled over the black shoe my husband had planted firmly on its head. Keith didn’t move.

When the snake stopped moving and keeping the body pinned with the yardstick, my husband moved his foot from the head. I hooked its lifeless body with the tines of the rake, carted it into a dense part of the woods, and flung it off the rake. I returned the rake where it didn’t belong, and came inside to dress for the day.

Strength

Coffee hadn’t given me strength this morning. I’d not fixed a cup yet. The only accomplishment for my time that morning was the time I’d spent in the Word of God and prayer. God was the source of courage I’d used.

Scripture works even when you don’t think to quote it. Jeremiah 1:12 (AMP) says, “Then the Lord said to me, ‘You have seen well, for I am [actively] watching over My word to fulfill it.’” It is God who fulfills the Word. My job is to have faith that He will do what He says.

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That realization takes the pressure off, doesn’t it? I must be obedient to do what He tells me and be faithful to walk in relationship with Him. This is simply knowing Him more by spending time praying and in His Word. While I am responsible for my part, He actively performs His Word! He never fails to keep a promise—even the ones we hope we never need.

Authority

Paul writes in Ephesians 1:19a (TPT), “I pray that you will continually experience the immeasurable greatness of God’s power made available to you through faith.” He goes on to say that this was the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. He writes that Jesus is over every authority forever. Ephesians 1:21 reads, “not only in this age, but in the age that is coming” (TPT). God’s power is available for us to use by faith. He gave us the authority to use it for a purpose. The enemy may wield his power in this world to bring trouble, but we have the authority to use God’s power! There is just no comparison!

I never want to tread on scorpions or serpents. I never want to see my husband do it again, either. But it isn’t just physical scorpions and serpents we have the power to tread on. Luke 10:19 says we have, “the ability to exercise authority over all the power of the enemy (Satan)” (AMP). The enemy of our souls wants us to believe that we are powerless against his schemes, attacks, and distractions. But take courage! God provides every tool that we need to conquer those troublesome things we face. We can exercise our God-given authority over anything the enemy tries to use, even the creepy things!

Sometimes we need to remind ourselves who we are so that we can remember the authority we have been given. Click here to download this free printable to remember you are His!

To read more from Holly, get a copy of her book, Believing for a Miracle, on Amazon.