Leah informed me that our favorite reptile, Lucy the Texas Leucistic Rat Snake, had died. She said that Lucy lay in her cage, belly up and unmoving. There was no indication of life. The loss saddened us both. Lucy is old, blind from cataracts and the most gentle, non-threatening snake I have ever seen. Yes, Leah and I keep snakes, and yes, I am afraid of them. But I am not afraid of Lucy. Never have been. She is the only adult snake we have ever owned that has never made me the least bit nervous. She will literally eat right out of your hand.Leah and I decided to wait until after church to remove Lucy from her housing and take care of the body. We left, I preached, and we returned home. Moments after getting back, Leah is yelling to me in joy and surprise that Lucy is not dead. She's alive! I join Leah in the animal room, and sure enough, Lucy is there, looking the same as ever, slipping her tongue in and out. We've had her for years, and I have never known her to sleep on her back, but......
Leah is a former vet technician and has had many pets of many different types and breeds from the typical dogs and cats to the exotics. I also have had my share of experience with exotic animals. We are not prone to such mistakes, nor quick conclusions when it comes to these things. I don't know how or why we missed that Lucy lived on. I am not sure why we didn't pick her up to check and make sure. I don't know why Lucy acted so out of character. I just know I am grateful that she's not dead as we thought.
It made me think of a conversation that I had with Leah yesterday afternoon, and a door that is closed to me due to my past and my record. There are simply some roads I can't go down as a felon. The way is dead and denied. It simply isn't even possible, and I understand that. I accept it. God can use me however He wants, and wherever He sends me I will go. But I don't even bother looking down certain roads, because I can't take those particular paths. Lucy is dead.
According to what was perceivable at the time, Lucy was dead. Only she wasn't. She was only sleeping. And according to everything that the world says and my perception can see, certain avenues and dreams are dead to me. Some of them still haven't been picked up and handled yet, though. To the Israelites on the shores of the Red Sea with Pharaoh bearing down on them, the dream of freedom was dead, and they soon would be as well. Escape was not possible. But God parted the sea. Sarah laughed when God said she'd bear a child in her old age. Doesn't He realize that women can't have children after menopause, and doesn't He remember that she's barren and never had children even before it was too late? Isaac enters stage left. Lazarus, not sleeping like Lucy but well and truly dead, walked from the grave to reawaken the hopes and dreams of his sisters, and there may be things in my life, and yours, that appear dead but only sleep. Jesus used that phrase. She's not dead but asleep. People laughed and mocked. But God says don't call dead what I say is alive and only sleeping as surely as He told Peter not to call unclean what He has called clean.
Some things are better left dead, but today, let us not be so quick to dismiss and bury the things God has placed on our heart. If God has said He will do something, He will. It doesn't matter what obstacle bars the way, not even death. If He has called you to something, He will empower you to do it and open every door that is necessary. Let us not call dead the dreams and callings that God has said are only asleep.
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