Oh My, Snakes In The Ceiling

About seventeen years ago, when our daughters still lived at home, we had some visitors, unwanted visitors, in our house. We lived in a community full of farmland, in fact, all around our house were corn fields. When the corn was harvested the field mice looked for new sources of food and shelter, thus they found their way into nearby homes. Each fall we could hear mice running across the drop ceiling in our basement. Unbeknownst to us, along with the mice in our ceiling there we also snakes, who had an endless buffet of mice to eat.

One fall season we became aware of the snakes; these snakes had most likely lived up there for years, only feet above our heads as we spent countless hours in our family room. For the next six weeks or so while a pest control company worked to trap and remove the snakes (when it was all said and done, they removed eight snakes and killed two others), our family lived in fear. These snakes had been up there for years and never once entered our living space but once we knew they were up there, our fear was on high alert. We were almost afraid to go downstairs.

The dictionary defines fear as “an unpleasant emotion caused by the awareness or anticipation of danger.” Even months after the snakes were finally gone we had a hard time relaxing in the family room. We had real fear, constantly looking around, expecting to come face to face with a snake. And much to our horror, during the extracting period three actually did get into our living space, tempting us to call a realtor to immediately sell “as is.” 😱

When faced with danger there is a physiological reaction that occurs in the human body in response to the perceived danger, causing us to either forcibly push back against the danger or to run away, known as the fight-or-flight response.

Fear causes us to be afraid. The Bible also talks of fear; “the fear of the Lord.” Is the Bible telling me to be terrified of God like I am terrified of snakes? The answer is no. We often see the word fear and frame it through our 21st-century eyes; danger = fear. But fear of the Lord is not a “scared” fear but a “positive” fear; one of reverence and respect, not wanting to disappoint God, a unique mix of awe and trembling that we feel in His presence (whether standing at the burning bush or listening to that still, small voice within).

Psalm 33:8 tells us this, “Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!”

And in Proverbs 9:10, we read, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.”

[In both verses, the root Hebrew word for fear is referencing reverence, respect, honor, awe. In the psalm it is used as a verb (yârê’), while the Proverbs usage, as a noun (yir’âh).]

So, you see, fear of the Lord comes out of our reverence toward God. And reverence helps us live the way God desires us to live, and it is really the only appropriate response to our Creator and Redeemer.