SteemChurch: Shake the Viper.

Shake the Viper

A viper in your hand? In the dark night the wind blew in a strong and inclement way to the shore of the sea. The experience lived in the wreck had been supremely traumatic. It was necessary to warm up while ordering ideas about what new step to take.

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What better than to light a fire. While the firewood and the fire began to devour hungry pieces of wood, a viper suddenly flees from the burning wood at the same moment that Pablo finished fixing the fire and the snake is caught by the hand of Pablo. Better let the same biblical story describe it better than me:

The scene

"Once safe, we learned that the island was called Malta. The islanders treated us with all kinds of attention. They lit a fire and invited us to come, because it was raining and cold. It happened that Paul picked up a pile of wood and was throwing it into the fire, when a viper fleeing from the heat caught on his hand. Seeing the snake hanging by Pablo's hand, the islanders began to comment among themselves: "Without a doubt this man is a murderer, because although he was saved from the sea, divine justice is not going to allow him to live."

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Shaking The Hand

But Paul shook his hand and the serpent fell into the fire, and he suffered no harm. People expected him to swell or fall dead suddenly, but after waiting a long time and seeing that nothing strange happened to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god. Nearby was a farm that belonged to Publius, the island's chief official. He welcomed us at his home with kindness and hosted us for three days. Publius's father was in bed, ill with fever and dysentery. Paul came to see him and, after praying, laid his hands on him and healed him. As a result of this, the other sick people of the island also came and were healed. They filled us with many attentions and provided us with everything necessary for the trip. " Acts 28: 2-10.

Sometimes in life we ​​feel sorry because a viper seems to have taken over our finances, our relationships, our property, work or church. What can we do? The same as Pablo did. But, let's divide this biblical story for a moment into what I would call three stages of the viper: Before the viper, with the viper in the hand and after the viper.

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BEFORE THE VIBORA:

If we read the 27th chapter of Acts we find that Paul was on a ship. He was taken as a prisoner to Rome and in the middle of the sea a tempest breaks out. Acts 27: 14-19 says: "Shortly thereafter a hurricane wind came up, called Northeast, that came from the island. The ship was caught by the storm and could not face the wind, so we drifted. While we were in the shelter of an islet called Cauda, ​​we were barely able to hold the lifeboat.

After boarding it, they tied the entire ship's hull with ropes to reinforce it. Fearing that they were going to run aground on the sandbars of the Sirte, they dropped the floating anchor and left the ship adrift. The next day, as the storm continued to lash out with great force against us, they began to throw the load overboard. On the third day, with their own hands, they threw the rigging of the ship into the sea. As many days went by without the sun or the stars appearing, and the storm continued to rage, we lost at last all hope of saving ourselves. "

We see that before the experience with the viper a storm embraced them in the sea. They lost even the hope of surviving. There are critical moments in our life that seem like a spiral. A sequence of events surprise us. We almost lose hope of being able to continue. Surprisingly, Paul transmits a message of hope to the distressed crew with these words:

"Last night an angel of God appeared to me, to whom I belong and whom I serve, and he said:" Do not be afraid, Pablo. You have to appear before the emperor; and God has granted you the life of all those who sail with you. "So cheer, gentlemen! I trust in God that it will happen just as I was told. However, we have to run aground on some island. »Acts 27: 24-26.

Anguish?

In the midst of the anguish God can send angels to encourage us and to encourage others. Hope for the anguished prisoners and guardians was like oxygen to their lives. They were shipwrecked, but God's promise remained. Their lives did not perish. It's the same with you and me. God in the midst of the storms of life will tell us: "The ship, work, money, health or something precious will be lost but nothing will touch them internally because I support them.

"In times of crisis, only imagination is more important than knowledge." Albert Einstein (1879-1955) German scientist nationalized American.

WITH THE VÍBORA IN THE HAND.

And here a new ingredient appears. After arriving on an island as shipwrecked. Having dodged the vicissitudes of the life that threatened them, they light a fire. They were breathing deeply and with a somewhat relieved soul when Paul fixing the fire is surprised by a viper. Not only was he bitten, but the snake caught his hand. Have you been in the middle of a chain of events that does not seem to break? One thing behind the other? The snake was highly poisonous. What to do?. Pablo shakes the viper and she falls into the fire.

Moments in Life

There are times in life when we have to decide if we get frustrated crying and waiting for the curtain to close or if we decide to shake our hand. Those who looked began to say that the curse was after Paul, but he paid no attention to this. Many will be watching what happens and will not stop saying: "Something wrong with this person" "One thing after the other". Words that paralyze us. But the best thing is not only to shake the hand, but also the mind, attitude and let faith and hope flourish. It does not matter how many vipers get on your hand. God did not call you to be consumed by the vipers of anguish, despair and doubt, but to shake it.

"If it is not in your hands to change a situation that causes you pain, you can always choose the attitude with which you face that suffering." Viktor Frankl (1905-1997) Austrian psychiatrist and psychotherapist.

AFTER THE VIBORA.

This is the most beautiful part. When people expected Paul to die, because they already knew the story with that kind of snake and seeing that that did not happen they changed their minds. Pablo was no longer a curse to them but they saw him as a god. Publius the island official took Pablo to his house because his father was sick. Pablo el Naufrago entered the house and prayed for Plubio's father and the miracle happened and the passage says: "As a result of this, the other sick people of the island also came and were healed. They filled us with many attentions and provided us with everything necessary for the trip. "

A Revival

A revival happened and the provision they needed to continue arrived. This really has to cheer us up. After you shake the snake of your life you will understand that in God's plan everything that happens becomes a great door of open opportunities. A whole revival was spilled on the island and not only God was glorified but what they needed to continue was provided. Beloved, it is not what happens before the viper or when we have our hand trapped by a snake, but our attitude in these two phases which will make God glorify himself.

Look at your hands

Many are still crying what they lost in the storm, others waiting for death because the snake caught them. There is someone within us who challenges us to look beyond the storm and the viper to contemplate with eyes of astonishment and brightness of joy that there is someone more powerful than the storm and more decisive than the viper, ready to go into action by opening the windows of heaven and pour out his good treasure to prosper the work of our hands. Look at your hands.

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Drop it

What's wrong with it? A snake? Shake it What do you have in your hands? Nothing because the storm took everything away? Shake them and be ready to see that God is about to fill them. But more important than full hands is that you see how God can use those empty hands today and with the scars of a viper's bite so that God may heal the sick, perform miracles and give caresses of hope.

Nothing will end until God does with you what He has determined to do. Your attitude is what counts before the new stage of your life.

"When you can not achieve what you want, you better change your attitude." Publio Terencio Afer (195 BC-159 BC) Latin comic author.

Shake your hand ... snake the viper to the fire and walk firmly to a new dawn in your life.

In our life there will always be stages that marked us ... it is up to us to allow adverse situations to drown us or help us to get ahead. When we put our life in the hands of Jesus EL, goes beyond, to the essentials ... to the intimate substratum of the person "everything is gift, everything is grace" the man who is not capable of admitting it, will walk in error, in lies and at the mercy of the impetuous winds ... the one who is in the truth with which we see ourselves before God ... by himself man is dust, wind ... nothing. By the grace of God "I am what I am" and the grace of God has not been vain in "me" What a way to live when you live in the truth! The truth about others and the truth about God. Jesus, sends us to an urgent but happy mission lived in relationship, in company, sharing path and life, facing dangers and discouragements and enjoying the joys together; Jesus created a community where life was shared. He, also on occasion, felt lonely, misunderstood, but the warmth of his friends' hearts also helped him in his mission, in his doubts, in his daily life, in his sufferings and there was also God. Here we could relate the two moments: before the viper and with the viper in hand, because sometimes frightened by the storms, we do not know what happened ... but people appear that give you strength, that believe in you ... they come out in your defense of the attacks of the viper, because always in the path of life we ​​will find those who criticize us ... who want to inoculate the poison in our veins to get us out of the way and there will always be those who want to pick up what you sow and not recognize your planting ... but there I say, is where you must hold your boat and tie it with the ropes of God's power "your lifesaver" and reinforce it and if for some reason you have to leave it adrift for fear ... and if the storm lashes with more force, throw your load into the hands of your God, but never lose hope ... there will be another sea and another shore where to anchor! Before fight for what you have fought, that your God knows the value of your mission and there will always be witnesses of it ... the marks of the viper are a sign of your strength to save your crew, so when you decide to shake the viper you can " raise flag "... There your enemies ... those who expected your defeat will see the miracles that God has done in you because He will continue to entrust your plan of salvation.

May God help you in this new dawn.
It is the wish of his brother and friend,

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