Snakes and Spiders

“And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not.” (Acts 28:24) 

With their ship battered to pieces, Paul and the other occupants swam to the island of Malta, escaping death by sea. The friendly islanders had a fire ready when they reached the shore. As Paul laid more wood on the fire, a poisonous snake bit him on the hand; the islanders thought him a murderer, punished for his wrongdoing (v. 3). After waiting a long while for him to bloat or fall dead, and he didn’t, they considered him a god. Ministry has its challenges. Paul and his team were doing what God called them to do: travel from place to place, telling the world about the kingdom of God. But a storm redirected their course to an island where they healed many sick people needing to hear of the one true God’s love. After arriving in Rome, Paul’s arrest allowed him to share God’s Gospel with the jailors.

God chooses when, where, and how He carries out His purposes. We experienced this through a church-sponsored mission trip to Gallup, New Mexico. Our family set out from Louisiana with chaperones and a youth group in an old, unairconditioned school bus. The purpose of our mission was door-to-door witnessing in the Spanish community in the mornings and hold revival services in the evenings. The people accommodated us in the small, dirt-floored, unairconditioned church building, sleeping bags for beds, and outdoor cold showers.

We went out the first day in small groups sharing the story of Jesus and inviting the locals to the evening service. The task was a challenge in areas where we had to clear spiderwebs to access some homes. But all were real troopers, and the girls were brave as we carried out our mission. After arriving back at home base, one of the girls felt something crawling on her, and doing a little “jig,” flicked the thing off. Within seconds we knew the “thing” had landed on our three-year-old son because of his screaming. Before we reached him, the black widow spider bit him twice on the leg. The spider was “put down.” and bottled. We brought both our boy and the spider to the nearest hospital. 

The on-call doctor delayed aid for our child, screaming in pain arguing with us that the spider was not a black widow because the red marking was not on the spider’s back. He was wrong; the hourglass marking is always on the underside. Then we were informed they had no anti-venom, and none was available from any nearby facilities, so they gave our child only an anti-inflammatory medication that did not help. If this were not bad enough, the community had an outbreak of dysentery. Hospital rooms were full—they put us in a ward, beds filled the room side-by-side, with only curtains separating them.

Our family had already experienced God’s miraculous hand, so we trusted Him but had no idea of His purpose. One thing we knew for sure: He didn’t make the spider bite our child but knew it would happen and use it for something good (Romans 8:28). My husband had to return to our group at the mission, but we agreed each morning, afternoon, and evening to face each other’s direction and pray that God would care for the needs at hand and do what He knew was best. So, we prayed. God met our needs and protected us from dysentery. Several days later, we rejoined the group.

In the meantime, our youth group grew spiritually and closer together as they called on the name of our Mighty God, expecting Him to work mightily. He did, and the teenagers learned the significance of intervening on behalf of someone’s need. God reminded my husband and me of Christ’s grace and sufficiency. The spider’s marks on our grown son’s leg are still visible; they serve as a vivid reminder to him and us that our God can do exceedingly abundantly more than we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20).

Because of Paul’s circumstances, he was able to tell the story of Christ in places that he would not have gone before. Though our mission endeavors were interrupted, God changed lives and drew us closer to Him. Where, how, and when God chooses to work is His prerogative. He sees the circumstances facing you—He knows all the angles; He’s in control. You, too, can experience the grace and sufficiency of our miracle-working God. Each person must decide whether to receive the message that Jesus saves daily and eternally; the first step is to acknowledge your need and invite Him into your life (Romans 10:9–10, 13). Some people believe, and some do not believe regardless of God’s activity.