Acts 28:5-6 But he shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. However, they were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had looked for a long time and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.

With a poisonous viper hanging off of his hand, there are a few things we might have expected Paul to do. One thing would be to scream like a little girl.  Another might be to sling the snake off in whatever direction he could.  Finally, Paul had Luke, the physician with him, so it would seem quite reasonable that Paul would have at least made an appointment with Luke. Instead, Paul simply shakes the snake off into the fire. He did that so others would not be bit by the snake.  Paul is a great illustration of a couple of important points here. First, a concern for others who could be hurt by that which does not hurt us. Second, an illustration of confidence in God. Third, sometimes God allows painful situations in our life.

Paul’s action speaks to our consideration of others in regards to things we may be able to handle, but they may not. Paul wrote that we have “liberty in Christ” and we can “stand firm in that liberty” but that we should also take care that our liberty does not cause another to stumble. Remember that when Paul speaks of liberty in Christ he is speaking in opposition to the bondage of works. Walking in that freedom means we are walking in the Spirit and not in the flesh. While, conditionally, all who are sealed in the Spirit, walk in the Spirit, we also recognize that situationally, there are certain things we should not be doing … things that are not pleasing to God. So, there may be things we do that are not sinful, yet could cause another to stumble.  An easy example is alcohol.

While it is not sinful, the Bible says that drunkenness is. So, a Christian may be able to have a glass of wine, but there might be another Christian who struggles with drunkenness and may be stumbled by seeing or just having knowledge of the other drinking alcohol. There are some things that could be dangerous but we are able to handle, that would likely bite and poison another person. Because we live not for ourselves, we may choose to throw those things in the fire to keep others from getting bit.

Paul also demonstrated confidence in God. He knew God’s plan was for him to testify in Rome. That didn’t necessarily mean that Paul wouldn’t be hurt by the poison, it just meant that Paul would survive to testify in Rome. In this case, God prevented the poison from harming Paul. Yet, in Lystra God did not block the stones hurled by those intent on killing Paul.  Instead, God revived Paul and he went back into Lystra, bloodied and bruised, to continue to testify of Jesus in the city.

A third point is this: God was fertilizing the mission field here on Malta, and God used Paul’s getting bit by a poisonous snake to do that. The people were watching. Would Paul swell up and die? Would he blame God for this seeming misfortune? Nope. Paul shook off the snake and kept serving. We should remember that while the poison didn’t hurt Paul, it is certain the bite did. Sometimes God allows painful situations in our life so that we are able to serve Him effectively in some place or situation.