Bill Johnson - Trust Is Key In Your Relationship With God
He says to Moses, «Pick up the snake, but do it by the tail.» I’m not a snake person, but one thing I do know is that you don’t pick up snakes by the tail. As long as I hold it behind the head, I would be tempted to thank my intelligence; my knowledge will keep me safe with this dangerous thing. If I pick it up by the tail, I’m only safe if I trust what he says about holding it. I love the story of Moses and his rod. I use it for many things because it speaks to me so deeply. He has this shepherd’s rod that has been with him for the 40 years he spent with sheep in the wilderness. The thing about a shepherd’s rod is that they would actually carve their journey onto it—like a diary. This rod holds a record of Moses’s 40-year history, and he could say, «This is my life as a shepherd,» all represented in this staff. God comes along and requires of him what He asked of His disciples: they had to leave everything. Moses had to take the only significant thing in his life and throw it down.
Now you’re awake! I’m just glad I didn’t break this little light here; sorry, I almost… yeah, just take it out of my allowance. So he throws the rod down, and, you know the story—it becomes a snake. It’s such a bizarre thing. Do you know whatever you have in your hand might be a snake; you just don’t know it yet. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be holding it; it just means you need to understand what you’re holding. What did Pharaoh’s magicians do? They threw down their rods, and they became snakes, right? What did Moses’s rod do? It ate their snakes. Where is the power of the enemy found? In the belly of your snake—it’s in the belly of your authority. So here we’ve got the snake down here. I don’t like snakes; I don’t even like them in National Geographic. I know it’s not cool to kill snakes, so I won’t tell you what I did when it was legal. A couple of rattlesnakes had a meeting with Jesus, and they don’t make me happy! Just tell Ben Armstrong, because he collects them and loves snakes.
So here’s the snake, a poisonous viper, which represents my history with God. As good as my training is, when I throw it down, I see it for what it is. Then he gives the most illogical instruction—except from God’s perspective, it’s perfect logic, perfect reason, and absolute perfect intelligence. He says to Moses, «Pick up the snake, but do it by the tail.» I’m not a snake person, but one thing I do know is that you don’t pick up snakes by the tail. So what does that mean Moses has to do? He has to pick up the snake by the tail. I’m just scared to death that one of these days I’m going to use this illustration, and this mic stand will turn into something, and I’ll be out in the lobby while you guys deal with it. Just between you and me, he has Moses pick up the snake by the tail. As long as I hold it behind the head, I’m tempted to think my intelligence and knowledge will keep me safe. That is dangerous! But if I pick it up by the tail, I’m only safe when I hold it the way He says. It’s like He doesn’t mind me having things; He just wants me to hold them correctly.
Because if I hold them incorrectly, the very thing that blesses me can turn against me. The very tool for my success can suddenly become threatening to my life. That’s the journey—it’s not tamed. As C.S. Lewis says in The Chronicles of Narnia, «He is not a tame lion.» This journey with Jesus is not tame. We have the privilege, day after day, of holding what He gives us in the way He instructs, so we can see Him glorified by our ongoing offerings. Because what I’ve learned is my «yes» from 40 years ago was genuine, but I reaffirm that decision daily, as we sang tonight. In the same way with my wife, I told her I loved her many years ago when we got married, but I say it many times a day now because it’s still active and true.
The Lord wants us not to base our estimation of our journey on externals. Next week, or whenever I’m up here again, I might talk to you about how to achieve breakthrough and vision fulfillment and all that other stuff. But tonight, I just want to share this one thought: my evaluation of my life isn’t based on promotions, favor, home, or whatever else it might be. Those are secondary important things but not primary. The primary focus is that in crisis, I know who to talk to. I’m on a journey. He has promised His voice to me, His presence is with me, and He will never leave me. If I am anxious, I lose sight of Him. If I’m anxious or angry or frustrated, I lose connection with Him, but He hasn’t left. I’ve just lost my awareness of His touch on my life.
The best thing I can do for myself is to hold the snake by the tail with confidence, believing I’m safe because He says I’m safe. Suddenly, my moments in Him take on more meaning. I’m thankful for the house, for the promotion, for all the stuff, but the real treasure isn’t any of that; it remains the journey. It remains that when I’m in trouble, He speaks. If we took everyone in this room and combined our lives—our giftings, history, culture, family line, and everything else about us—high above all experiences and issues, if we stripped away every one of those things and finally got down to that one common denominator, it would be this: I called upon the name of the Lord, and He heard me. That’s the one thing everyone in this room has in common. Holding to that tail—so to speak—holding to what God has released in my life, knowing it is the blessing of the Lord. I will gladly throw it down; it is the blessing of the Lord, but I live with the purpose of honoring Him with every action. If I can hold it and glorify God, I will hold it until I die. If the best way to glorify Him is to throw it on the ground, then I will throw it on the ground, because it’s the journey. It’s the person I walk with—not all these things.