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When I was a teenager, I was hunting crawdads to go fishing with. I had knelt in shallow water so I could grab them. Then, I noticed the tail of a snake dangling near me. He was in a willow tree, which I knew they liked. To see if I was in real danger, I needed to find its head and see if its eyes were slitted or not. In Oklahoma, all poisonous snakes have slitted eyes. I spotted it, and it was about 6 inches from my nose. His eyes were not slitted, so he was just a regular water snake.

The older woman looked nice. Not an auburn hair out of place. No doubt due to the amount of hairspray she had used. Her clothing looked like an outfit purchased from Neiman Marcus. Sorry, I forgot to notice her shoes. In the last two weeks, April and I learned all we needed to know about this woman, even though our conversations only lasted a few minutes.

Every Sunday, she goes to the same Chinese restaurant right after church. The first week, I invited her to join us so she would not have to eat alone, but she responded, “Thank you, but whenever I dine with people, I focus on them, and I don’t get to enjoy my food.” The second week, I said, “Because you’re dressed so nicely, you must go to church before coming here.” “Of course, I go to church,” she responded rather sharply. “That’s good. Which one?” “I go to (name of church). It used to be called (old name of church). I don’t know. I guess someone got into the ear of the pastor and convinced him we needed to change the name of the church to attract younger people.” Then she went on to inform me that she plays the organ there and wanted me to know that she had for 57 years! I said, “You must be good.” “Of course I am!” It was at that moment I looked into her eyes. In my spirit, I heard, “She’s poisonous!”

When April and I got in the car, I told her what I heard in my spirit. Then I said, “I don’t want to be around her ever again. April, who has the gift of discernment, agreed. So why is she poisonous?

She doesn’t like or love people. She would rather sit alone and eat her meal.

She doesn’t like change. She likes things the way they are. Don’t you dare suggest she do something new or different. She will dig her heels in and give you an attitude like changing the name of the church.

She is full of pride. “Well, I’ve played the church organ for 57 years! I’m good at it!” Again, she doesn’t like change.

She is selfish. She wants everything to go “her” way.

She won’t listen to the Godly. She has heard messages from her pastor, yet she hasn’t changed. She has most likely ended relationships with people of God. Probably because they tried to encourage her to “love.” She hears God’s words preached, but they fall on hardened soil. A hardened heart. They take no root. They produce nothing beautiful in her life.

Sadly, she will never change. She will never become a vessel of God’s love.

In my life, I have come across others like her. One thing I have also learned is poisonous people hurt people. They will strike and bite you and feel they are doing it to defend themselves. Therefore, it is best to avoid snakes, poisonous people. I don’t know if she will make it into heaven or not. That is solely up to God, but I do know one thing: God doesn’t care much for snakes!

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