Stanley the Snake in the Garden of Eden

The Good Little Snake

by Judy Andrews

Everything was just fine for Stanley the snake in the Garden of Eden. He was a harmless little snake and just wanted to play with all the other animal children. He liked playing with the lambs, the muskrats, the raccoons and the turtles. In the Garden of Eden none of the animals were enemies so they all played together all day long. That is how it will be in heaven too.

Stanley loved foot races with Billy the Buffalo. Oh, I forgot to tell you that snakes had legs and feet in the Garden of Eden. Well, everything was peaceful and fun and loving in the garden....

... until one day, all of a sudden, the garden became very dark. The animals scurried about trying to figure out what was going wrong.

"What is it?" Stanley pleaded with his best friend Morris the Muskrat.

"Something is wrong in the garden." Morris cried out.

"We should find Adam. He will know what to do. " Stanley said trying to calm his friend.

"That's just the problem." Morris yelled as they ran. "Adam and Eve caused the trouble!"

They joined all the animals that were rushing to the center of the garden where the great tree of the knowledge of good and evil stood. They stopped at the ridge that surrounded the center of the garden where God always walked and talked with Adam and Eve. They looked over the ridge and there stood God, majestic and awesome as always. Adam stood before him and Eve

was on her knees crying! Nobody ever saw anyone crying in the garden before, because there was no sadness or pain in the perfect garden. Then in the distant, Stanley and the others spotted a very strange beast. It was a snake, but not a sweet snake like Stanley and all his snake family and snake friends. This beastly snake was puffed up. He was swelled up like he was full of bad things. He was snorting and hissing like he had been very angry since the beginning of time.

"Do you know that snake Stanley?" Doris the Dove asked as she landed on Stanley's head.

"No." said Stanley. "He isn't like any snake I ever saw. He isn't sweet and full of love like all the snakes I know."
"That's because he's not really a snake." A voice came from behind. Everyone turned and saw Henrietta the Hummingbird darting above everyone. "A few of us hummingbirds went down there. That is no snake Stanley! That is God's enemy.... Satan! He has just done a terrible thing!"

Suddenly there was a great earthquake and everyone was tossed around like dolls. Stanley was screaming as he tried to stay close to his friends, but it was no use. Things were falling all around him. Poor Stanley couldn't even tell what was up or what was down. The earth shook for what seemed like days..... then all of a sudden it was still. Stanley was in some weeds as he stared up at the sky. Suddenly Henrietta the Hummingbird appeared. "You OK Stanley?"

"Yes I think so Henrietta." Stanley said as he rolled over. Then he noticed something terrible. His legs were gone! " Hey! No I'm not OK! Somebody stole my legs!"

"They weren't stolen Stanley." The little bird explained. "God punished the evil snake because he brought sin into the garden.

"Well that's not my fault!" Stanley complained. "Why should I have to suffer because someone else did wrong."

"Everyone is suffering, Stanley." Henrietta continued. "Look around you. We are no longer in the garden. No one can go back there. The earth, the animals and the people are fallen because Adam and Eve did the one thing that God told them not to do."

"What could they have done that was so bad?" Stanley asked. They kept the garden nice. Adam named us all, and they played with us every day."

"Remember God told them that they only had one rule and that was not to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?"

"Oh no, they didn't." Stanley gasped.

"Yes they did."Henrietta quickly replied." Now they are cursed and we are cursed."

Stanley tried to crawl without his legs. He wanted to show Adam and Eve what they had done to him. He struggled but finally mad it over to where the two were standing.

"Look at me." Stanley said to them. "My beautiful legs are gone! I look stupid like this! Now what are we going to do? Is there any hope for us?" Finally after a few moments, Adam turned and looked into Stanley's eyes. Adam smiled and touched Stanley's head. There was hope and love in Adam's eyes.

"I know you are sad. We all are Stanley." Adam said to the little snake. "But God will not leave us to perish. He loves us too much for that. Before we were punished, God gave us a promise. He said that someday His Son would come to earth and make it all like it was before. He will defeat the evil snake Satan. He will defeat death and He will make everything perfect again."

"He will?" Stanley asked with happy tears in his eyes. "Maybe then I will get my legs back."

Don't worry Stanley. " Eve said as she picked him up. Stanley wrapped himself around her arm. "You look so cute like this. "We will take care of each other until Jesus comes and makes everything right."

Eve put Stanley down on the ground and he gave her a hug as he coiled around her leg. Stanley was still a little sad, but now he had a Savior to look forward to. He had hope for the future. Besides if Eve thought he was cute without legs, he thought he might get used to it... for a while.

The end.

I hope you liked the story this week. I have a real treat for you next week. We are going to have 3 weeks of give aways leading up to Easter. Some really cool stuff! Next week we are going to find out what God's plan is. And how He will let us back into the garden.