by : Rondell Demmings

As children, my brother, two sisters and myself we were not allowed to bring anything in the house that even resembled a snake. I remember once being at Geauga Lake, an amusement park near the Cleveland Ohio area and I had won a stuffed pink snake playing Ring Toss. This was a class trip and I knew I couldn't bring it home so I gave the snake to one of my friends. Snakes in any shape or form was not allowed in our house.

About six years ago I was dating a guy, whose brother had a six-foot long yellow and white snake, which I didn't know about at the time. When we went to visit the brother, the snake was brought out for my boyfriend at the time to see. The sight of the snake sent me into an absolute panic. I ran screaming and crying into the bathroom and once I got the door slammed and locked, I wet my pants, right in the bathroom. Talking about being embarrassed not only did I have to clean the bathroom floor but also I had to ride home in wet clothes on a cold January day. With wet pants and an attitude, I broke up with this man on this day. I felt both of them were satanic or something, normal people don't own snakes!

My mother to this day is terrified of snakes. She can't even watch a snake on television without screaming. Having grown up seeing my mothers fear of snakes made me develop a fear of them also. I was once told that God put the fear of snakes into women and any woman who is not afraid of snakes is unnatural. Because I was told this I felt my fear of snakes was acceptable.

Being the researcher that I am I had to find out if this was true. In Genesis 3:15 in the Living Bible it states

And I will put enmity

between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and hers;

he will crush your head,

and you will strike his heel."

This passage is what God said to the serpent after He found out that Adam and Eve had eaten from the Tree of Knowledge. When I looked up the word "enmity" it means hatred that exist between enemies. So women were given a "hatred" of snakes not a fear of snakes. We are supposed to conquer our enemies, not fear them. Just imagine if the United States were afraid of Iraq, we would have a bunch of people running from each other and that would be absolutely silly. God even told us that we will "crush their heads". Nowhere does it state that we are to fear snakes. The only fear we should have is fear in God. Once I realized this I watched the movie "Anaconda" for the first time and without fear.

My fear of snakes is a metaphor of my life, I sometimes let things that I have worked hard to obtain go to please others and I also cause my own problems because of beliefs that were instilled in me as a child from others. I have also noticed that my fears of money and intimacy are based on beliefs that were instilled in me as a child.

I feel that if I can be in the same room with a snake without wetting my pants this will be another step forward for me. I am now looking into how I can make this happen for myself. Now, touching a snake is still something I have to work on. Like I tell everyone start with baby steps.

Today I challenge you to identify the fears in your life and determine how this fear has held you back in other life endeavors. Once you have identified the fear I challenge you to eliminate this fear.