Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you – Luke 10:19
In the South African context the Scorpions were an independent, multidisciplinary agency that investigated and prosecuted organised crime and corruption. Although this unit is no longer in existence the vast responsibility of their role within our society clearly demonstrates that they were in a strong position of power against perpetrators and wrongdoers. In fact the Scorpions worked as a division of the National Prosecuting Authority.
What is a scorpion? Often looked upon with fear as something similar to that of a snake – let us closer examine what scorpions really are in the greater scheme of nature. Scorpions are predatory arachnids which means that they come from the same family as spiders. They have eight legs and their segmented tail often ends in a venomous stinger. Only 25 out of 1750 described species of scorpions actually have venom capable of killing a human being. In fact scorpion venom has properties that can treat heart disease and even some types of cancer. Bet you didn’t know that?
So after all the random information of scorpions let’s bring it back down to reality, we’re just a few days away from moving into the zodiac sign of scorpio represented by the scorpion. This also really has no relevance other than that is the shape that the stars that were perceived to have been form at this time in the zodiac cycle. It is interesting to note though that this seemingly small creature holds so much power and causes so much fear in man, given that the bulk of scorpions are actually harmless to adults of average health.
Why then does the Bible refer to these creatures as having power over the earth?
And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
It’s interesting because when we actually look at the facts they really are pretty harmless. Now, I’m not saying go ye forth and trample on scorpions – I’d rather not, just in case they are of the 25 species that actually are venomous. But still, what power is this bible verse actually referring to?
I spent quite a large part of my childhood growing up in Zeekoeivlei, so spiders, scorpions, flies, and the odd snake were really nothing out of the ordinary to me. The entire concept of being afraid of a creature so much smaller than me was absurd to begin with. Catch it, throw it outside, and carry on with your life! Having said that, I know that this is not the general reaction of most people. Why though? FEAR. It all comes down to fear. So you heard somewhere that scorpions are poisonous then you worked yourself up into a frenzy and now everything that even remotely looks like a gogga creeps you out and you scream and shout like the sky is falling, meanwhile you don’t even know why! Well fear is one explanation that gives the scorpion this power – as with everything else that scares you in life. The less you know, the more uncertainty there is and the more fear grows – well that’s pretty simple then – get educated on the subject until you no longer are controlled by the fear of the unknown.
All fear ultimately stems from doubt. Now this could be doubt in others to protect you from danger. Doubt in your own ability to protect yourself. Just a small seed of doubt can easily blossom into full blown fear and before you know it you’re stuck on top of a cupboard hiding from a creature smaller than the palm of your hand which more than likely isn’t even life-threatening. So too in life – how often do we find ourselves cowering away from others or unknown situations because we doubt our own ability which strikes up fear for no good reason? Come on now – scorpions only have power on the earth because we know so little about them, so too with the every other unknown. May I suggest the following:
- Research
- Ask questions
- Gather information
- Make a rational decision of whether your fear is valid or not
Do not be afraid. Not even of scorpions – because when you find out the facts you might actually find that all the energy you wasted on being afraid was indeed in vain.
The other possibility for this irrational reaction to a creature so small could be as a result of crowd-following. My parents have a million dogs, ok they have four and my sister has three and they live on the same property so often, during summer especially, they like to gather en mass in the garden area around the pool. I’m not talking large scale dogs here – one jack russel who thinks he’s a pitbull and six pugs. Let’s be serious now, these aren’t even real dogs, even though they sure believe that they are very vicious and scary and I guess we let them believe that for their own self-esteem. The interesting thing about pugs is that they do everything in unison, they’re like the epitome of #TeamThis. When one eats, they all eat. The same goes for weeing, pooping, drinking water and even sleeping! It’s actually fascinating to watch. Generally there’s a dominant figure, in this case Sir Balantyne aka Ballie. So Ballie is slightly larger as he is of a different breed and he sure walks around like the king of the castle and as such whatever he does, the others do too. On one occasion we had a neighbours dark barking and then it started. Ballie barked and all the others followed. The neighbours dog was on the other side of the wall so could not be seen but at least Ballie had enough common sense to bark in the right direction. I just stood in amazement as I watched the others also barking, not entire knowing or understanding why. Ruby was facing the entire opposite direction busy with something completely different when she also just started barking. I actually looked at her and asked: “Do you even know why you’re barking or are you just a mindless crowd-pleaser??” She stopped barking for a while but eventually continued because they were #TeamBarking.
How often do you find yourself forming a certain opinion on a circumstance or situation just because your peers or society or friends feel a certain way? In other words do you even know why you are barking? Are you even facing the right direction – has it occurred to you to ask? Or do you just want to be part of the in-crowd? I won’t delve into this too much but to say: Sometimes being part of the in-crowd could leave you in fear of things that you have no reason to fear at all.
Ponder on that a bit…
A Day In The Life 