“Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” Luke 10:19 NKJV
“I’m having trouble believing it’s true, LORD. I’m sorry. I know You don’t lie. But really! “Nothing”?! “By any means”?! No harm? Ever? I don’t think so! That’s just not my life experience. And I’ve never met anyone else for whom this is true. I just don’t know how to reconcile this with all the trouble, hurt, and harm I’ve experienced.”
Childhood abuse.
Cancer.
Devastating earthquakes (not one, but two—in separate countries).
Immediate family ravished by addiction, infidelity, depression, suicide, and imprisonment.
What am I supposed to do now? Where do I go with this quandary?
Being a geek for Greek, I had to make sure the original meaning is really so emphatic. Sure enough, there are two separate Greek words that give double emphasis:
- οὐδείς (oudeis) – not even one; that is, none, nobody, nothing, never, not, nought.1 (I think they just used up all the negative words in the English language in this definition!)
- οὐ μή (ou mē) – a double negative strengthening the denial; not at all, never anymore, by no means, neither, never, in no case.
Well, that has me stuck! How do I reconcile the truth of these words with my own life experiences?
But thankfully, my stuck-ness doesn’t last very long. Within a matter of hours, I hear a speaker on a podcast say, “Faith is visionary, not blind. You have seen it in the unseen realm2.”
As I hear these words, it strikes me: this verse starts with the invitation, “Behold.”
Behold. Look at God. See what He’s doing. Look into the unseen realm. Exercise faith that is “visionary not blind.”
In short, be like Jesus: “I speak of what I have seen with my Father3.” “The Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing4.”
Because when we behold, when we look at God, when we exercise our eyes of faith, we’re not blind to the realities before us or to the truth of our life experiences. But we have the privilege of going to Papa God and asking for a bigger picture. “How do You see this situation?” “What are You doing here?” “How would you like me to partner with You in what You are doing?”
Once we behold, we’re able to exercise the authority Jesus gives to His disciples—the authority that tramples on serpents and scorpions, and exercises rule over all the power of the enemy. Because, like Jesus, we’re speaking of what we’ve seen with our Father and doing what we see our Father doing.
It’s true: none of us has avoided all the trouble, hurt, and harm this world has to offer. But maybe we can help one another experience something closer to “nothing shall by any means hurt you” if we will stop and consider the situation from Father’s viewpoint, then exercise our authority.
Behold!
~ Kathryn Kircher, Writer
~ Rhonda Bailey, Artist
1Excerpted from Strong's Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries. J. Strong. [1890.] 2https://liveyourbestlifepod.libsyn.com/reigning-in-life-with-wendy-backlund-100 3John 8:38 4John 5:19
