The Serpents in God's River

 Artwork by Lauren Anderson

The title may seem confusing, but it will all be explained as you read. ;-)

About a year ago I had a dream. In this dream I was in a Great river. I was staying afloat, but the current of the river was directing my course. I knew the river was the River of God. It took me through a lot of rough rapids before taking me into what seemed to be a calm, steady flow. It was then that I saw three serpents swimming towards me. I recognized immediately that they were venomous. Fear began to set in. Each of them bit me, one on each hand and the third over my heart; it was the most excruciating pain I’ve ever endured. I thought to myself that I would surely die, but I didn’t. God assured me I would be okay; I would survive. The waters continued to take me past the place where I had been bitten, carrying me down stream through the river’s course. 

I awoke from that dream knowing God had just shown me I was in His River. I understood God was directing my path, despite the rough rapids and the venomous serpents. If anyone attempts to tell you that if your path has difficult spots it is not God's direction for you, don't listen to them. All of the Apostles had trying lives.  And Jesus himself promised us difficulties if we follow Him. John 16:33, "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." For anyone to propose or think the enemy's presence in your life suggests you are out of God's will for your life, is preposterous!

The Apostle Paul was bitten on the hand by a serpent which led the islanders to accuse him of being a murderer, claiming the snake bite was vengeance (or karma). He shook off the viper and did not die! know this...there will be those who accuse you when the enemy attacks you. They will claim it is a sign you are in the wrong. Do what Paul did and shake that viper off. It's not easy; trust me, I know. Viper bites are painful, and they do inject poison. 

I understood the river was the River of God, and He was directing my path because it was the river’s current that guided me. I also understood it was going to take me through some rough times that would lead me to the most painful experience of my life, but I KNEW beyond a shadow of a doubt God showed me I would NOT die.  What I didn’t understand was the meaning of the three serpents. God impressed on my heart the importance of the serpents and the number of them, but I was in the dark as to what that significance was. 

I prayed for months and months for God to reveal the meaning of them to me. I watched as the waters got choppy in my life. Then 6 months ago, God’s river plunged me into unrelenting rapids. I was swept into the calm waters 3 months later at the end of February, and I was bitten by those venomous snakes. My dream was accurate; it has been the most painful experience of my life! But I have survived. 

It wasn’t until recently that God revealed the meaning of the three serpents to me, and that is the reason I felt led to share this. I feel there is someone out there who may need to hear how the enemy works in the lives of those who belong to God. The serpents were the forces of darkness used to inject me with poisonous venom. Satan can and does speak to us through our thought processes, but he also uses people as his vessels. Sometimes those people don’t even realize they are being used by him. At other times they are well aware of the venom they spew. 

I was bitten, and it hurt. God showed me the three fold venom I was injected with. The enemy was attempting to destroy me through three poisons, but God saw it coming and showed me for the purpose of being able to reveal to me at the right time what the serpents were and what their venom was. Like Paul, I’ve been accused, and I survived an attack from the enemy, but I freely admit the venom did enter my body. I struggled with the painful and deadly effects of the enemy’s poison until it was revealed to me that the three potent venoms were hatred, bitterness, and unforgiveness, and the poison’s mission was to kill me. The dream was about the vessels used to inject me and the venom I was injected with. 

Hatred, bitterness, and unforgiveness will bring death to the spirit of a man or woman.  But what God showed me through the dream was that I would survive. The thing is…I had to deal with the venom by recognizing it and taking it to God! The poison of a serpent enters the blood, but if we take those things to our Lord and Savior, asking Him to forgive us and to help us to forgive, He is faithful and just to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. And let’s be honest, those venomous things I was injected with are unrighteous. I don’t want to have a heart with darkness in it. I don’t want hatred to reside inside of me. I want the blood of Jesus to purge my blood of all its impurities and any venom the enemy attempts to infect me with. 

Mark 16:17 and 18, “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”

You see, believers are going to have to confront devils; they will even take up serpents. They are often bitten by the demonic forces they battle, but deadly things will NOT kill them. It may hurt, and the truth is, we (as believers) must allow Jesus’ blood to cleanse ours from the poison the enemy infects us with. Me, I’m clinging to the last of that passage…they shall recover. I’m going to recover and so will you!

Be blessed and be made whole,

Schledia