Note From The Board – March 2026

Fear Not 

Rod Robison

Unite 4 Africa Board Member

Living in the Desert Southwest encounters with snakes are not uncommon.  But having studied these fascinating creatures since I was a kid, I’ve learned which ones pose a danger and which are safe.  Fortunately, the safe ones vastly outnumber the dangerous ones in my neck of the desert. 

Even though I find snakes fascinating, I’ve never had any desire to get close to a venomous snake.   That’s where I draw the line.  So when I attended a rattlesnake demonstration at our county fair several years ago it was with at least a bit of concern for my personal safety.  But that didn’t stop me from sitting on the front row.  I really wanted to get the best seat in the house – front and center – so I wouldn’t miss a thing.

The lecturer, a leading expert on rattlesnake safety, brought in a wooden box and placed it on a table just a few feet from the front row.  “I’m gonna pull this rattler out in just a moment,” the snake wrangler explained to us.  “He’s feelin’ pretty feisty today.”  I could hear the tell-tale buzz of the vibrating rattle, confirming that, indeed, there was one ticked off snake just a few feet from me.   

“Now, let me just tell you one thing you have to remember,” the snakeman said with a cautious tone.  “If by some chance this rattler comes off the table, DON’T MOVE.   He won’t know you’re there if you don’t move.  Snakes strike at moving objects, not still ones.” 

Was he kidding?  Or was he just adding to the drama?  At this point I was beginning to wonder why I thought it was so important that I get a front row view of the action.  But it was too late.  If I moved out of the front row now I would blow my cover as “that brave guy on the front row,” which, of course, was only half right.  I was on the front row.   

The snakeman slowly opened the hinged door on top of the box.  Reaching in with the tip of a curved metal pole, he carefully pulled out a thirty-two-inch rattlesnake.  The brown diamond-backed thick-bodied serpent hung from the pole for just a moment, then lowered himself to the table top.  All the while his quivering tail sent a buzz-warning that stated emphatically, “Don’t mess with me!”   The tension in the room was thick.  But not nearly as thick as when, like a brown flash, the rattler shot to the floor about five feet from my chair.  My brain went into near panic mode chanting repeatedly, “Don’t move, don’t move, don’t move…” while every muscle and nerve in my body screamed, “Run you fool!!!”   A little girl sitting next to me did just that.  She screamed (thankfully, snakes can’t hear) and bolted for the back row (but they do sense movement).  Now the snake saw movement in my general vicinity.  Lovely!  

At this point my imagination began to entertain a brief but nightmarish scenario of the snake crawling up my pant leg while I repeated “don’t move!” — mingled, of course, with a fervent, panic-stricken prayer.  But in reality the snakeman’s assistant calmly reached to the floor with a tool that looked something like salad tongs with long arms, picked up the lethal reptile, and laid him on the table.   I tried rather unsuccessfully to glance at the crowd with a look that said, “What, me worry?”  But I think I probably looked a little more like the sweaty-browed, bundle of nerves that I, in fact, was.   I walked away from the demonstration a bit shaky, but I knew there had to be a great illustration in the experience somewhere.

So here we go with the illustration.  The snake is, of course, Satan.  I’m Everyman.  And the snakeman’s assistant, who rescued me, would represent God in this analogy.  And the snakeman – the guy who let the snake drop off the table within striking distance of my leg – he doesn’t get a part in my little analogy.  Sorry.   

Now this analogy could go two ways.  One – I should actually have fled.  Like Joseph faced with the temptation of Potiphar’s sultry wife, I should have made hasty tracks for the door.  I’m thinking that I could actually have outrun the snake given my motivation.  And, if we are motivated by a driving desire to please God, we can “flee temptation” as the Bible warns. After all, as the Apostle Paul admonished, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.  But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out…”  (First Corinthians 10:13) 

Good analogy.  But let’s look at analogy number two.  I was told that, to be safe from the rattler, I should NOT MOVE.  Now how does that fit into an analogy about Satan?  Maybe it’s this – there are times in our lives when Satan’s assaults are so near, so overwhelmingly consuming, that we hardly know what to do.  Running doesn’t seem like an option because we wouldn’t know where to run to even if we could find the strength to.  In those moments we need to, “Be still, and know that I am God,” as it says in Psalm 46:10.  Earlier in that same Psalm we’re encouraged by these words, “God is our refuge and strength, and ever-present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging…the Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.”

Frozen with fear, I stayed put when the deadly viper dropped to the floor in front of me.  Good thing I did.  Because, knowing my life was in danger, the snakeman’s assistant stepped between me and the snake.  He knew the snake personally and how to handle him.  As intimidating as the snake looked to me, the assistant didn’t even break a sweat as he calmly reached down and trapped him between the fingers of the tongs to protect those of us nearby – sort of like God handles Satan when we are tempted to fear that crafty “serpent.”  If we’ll just trust God to step in and take care of situations we simply can’t handle or when we just don’t know what to do, He can be counted on to be our protector.  And like the Psalmist, we, hopefully, prayerfully learn to say, “I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” 

So take your pick, analogy one or two — or both.  The important truth to remember is that, like a deadly snake, we don’t have to fear Satan, if we know how to respond to him.  But don’t get close.  Leave that to the Expert.  

When you support the work of Unite 4 Africa you are partnering with this ministry to disciple countless men, women, and children throughout Africa and beyond who, all too often, live in fear. Through the discipling process they learn to embrace the liberating, transformative truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and are set free to experience His love. 

We have so many others to reach with the Gospel in the coming months, and with your financial support you are being used by God to reach each one of them.  Please visit www.Unite4Africa.com/donate today to share His love.