How Many Dangers Has God Already Moved?

Each weekday morning, my husband and I sit on our front porch with our coffee and read a devotional together before he heads off to work. It’s one of my favorite parts of the day—a few quiet moments before life gets busy. Yesterday morning was no different.

We finished our devotional, and Mickey went inside to hop in the shower. I stayed on the porch a little longer to finish my own prayer time. As I got up to go inside, I noticed the back support pillow on his chair had flopped over. I reached down to straighten it up…and nearly jumped out of my skin. There was a snake curled up in my husband’s chair.

Not a tiny garden snake, either. This black snake was probably close to three feet long, and Mickey had been sitting in that chair for about twenty minutes!

Now, before anyone starts worrying, it wasn’t venomous. Around here, we actually like black snakes because they help keep copperheads and other unwanted snakes away. But let’s just say, we’d prefer they find somewhere other than our porch chairs to take their morning naps!

I ran inside to tell Mickey, and after the initial shock wore off, we both just stood there laughing in disbelief. He even took a video of it once he was dressed (see below).

Looking back, we couldn’t help but think how easily he could have reached behind him to adjust that pillow without ever knowing what was there. Black snakes aren’t poisonous, but they certainly know how to make their point if they’re startled. The whole thing stayed with me the rest of the day.

How many times has God quietly protected us from something we never even knew was there? We spend a lot of time worrying about the dangers we can see, but perhaps we should spend even more time thanking Him for the ones He never lets us see at all.

Psalm 121:7 says, “The Lord will keep you from all harm—He will watch over your life.”

That doesn’t mean we’ll never face difficulties. We all do. But I believe there are countless moments when God is watching over us in ways we’ll never fully understand this side of heaven.

Yesterday, He let us see the snake. I wonder how many others He’s quietly moved out of our path without us ever knowing.

Today, I’m feeling especially grateful for God’s unseen protection, and I’m checking the porch chairs before I sit down from now until the first snow.

August 12, 2026, Morning Brew