HOW TO SHAKE IT OFF

       

       As the book of Acts comes to a close, we find Paul on an island named Malta. The weather is less than ideal. It's cold and raining. The inhabitants of the island bless their new visitor by kindling a warming fire. Paul gathers sticks to add to the fire. He is unaware that a venomous snake is lurking beneath the sticks. As he adds the sticks to the kindling, the rising heat forces the snake out of its hiding place at which point it strikes and buries its poisonous fangs into Paul's hand.
       In my mind's eye I can see the great man of God standing by the fire, calmly looking down at the viper dangling from his hand - the same hand with which he had ministered the grace of God to so many lost and hurting souls. In fact, he uses the very same hand a short time later to minister healing to the ailing father of the island's chief, then to other sick islanders (Acts 28:7-9).
       How can he remain so calm in a time like this? From a natural standpoint, he needs immediate medical attention. He could die soon. But Paul is well-versed in the protective grace of God whereby nothing - including this creature fastened to his hand - will by any means hurt him.
Acts 28:5
5 And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm.
       There are some things which need to be shaken off. (Just ask Taylor Swift.) We may not have a literal snake hanging onto our hand, but there are all sorts of negative things which ''fasten'' themselves to us.
       Bear in mind that, ever since the Garden of Eden, the devil has been represented as a serpent (Genesis 3:1-15; 2 Corinthians 11:3; Revelation 12:9; 20:2). He will hang onto your life for as long as you let him. He will hang onto your mind for as long as you are willing to put up with it. And every passing minute that he is not shaken off, his venom is doing its damage.
       We can shake him off by the power of grace. We can shake him off by accessing grace via our faith. Jesus shook him off by speaking God's Word in response to his attack (Luke 4:1-13). We can, and must, do the same if we too are going to shake him off.
AccessKey: Practice the following exercise - Shake your hands as if you are literally and physically shaking something off which had fastened itself to you. As you do this, imagine all the negativity in your life falling off and away from you.
       Miraculously, Paul suffers no adverse effects from the snake attack. He feels no harm and suffers no harm after shaking it off. He is totally unaffected by it - even as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are unaffected by the fire. He doesn't collapse. He doesn't get sick. He experiences no swelling of his bitten hand. He doesn't even scream out in pain.
       It's one thing to shake a negative situation off. But oftentimes, even after turning away from the problem, there are still unpleasant, lingering effects to deal with. Have you noticed this? The aftereffects of a soured relationship can linger even after the person is gone. But grace can heal us of those residual effects so that it doesn't by any means hurt us. Grace delivers, protects and heals.
Acts 28:6
6 Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god.
       The islanders are horrified as they witness the poisonous snake strike Paul, then fasten itself to his hand. They are a kind, caring people. This is evidenced by their building a fire to warm the Christian missionary. They are expecting certain things to happen as a result of the attack. They wait for his hand to swell, but nothing happens. They wait for him to drop dead from the venom coursing through his veins. But it doesn't happen. He appears fine. Paul's body is not reacting to the bite in a manner consistent with their knowledge of the natural world.
       Grace can keep you alive and well when you are supposed to be defeated, dead and destroyed. There are a host of things which should have happened to wipe us off the map but yet, here we are - still standing. It's a testament to the power of God's grace.
       The natives of Malta, after carefully observing Paul for ''a great while,'' are eventually forced to change their minds when nothing negative happens. They are forced to throw away their assumptions and suppositions. When grace is in play - when grace is factored into a situation - the playbook might as well be tossed in the trash. Grace is a game changer. They conclude that Paul must be a divine being, for this transcends human ability. No mere mortal has the power to shake off a deadly snake as if nothing happened, they reason to themselves. They don't understand the grace factor.

© Matt Decker

» This post is an excerpt from my book  GRACE IN A MAZE: How to Make it Through  (available as paperback and eBook)