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Listen while you read: "We Give Thee But Thine Own"1 (Lyrics) |
Proverbs 30:28 – The spider skillfully grasps with its hands, and it is in kings' palaces. (NKJV)
Spider webs festoon the front of my house, draping themselves over the porch railing, making airy paths between the house and the porch roof, even arching across from the porch to the patio furniture. No, it's not a haunted house — it's just the reality that I have to deal with at my summer home. I try my best to sweep the webs away, but those little guys make new ones almost as fast as I get rid of them.
James 1:2-4 – Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (NIV)
Spiders persevere. They face breakages and setbacks, and patiently build one web after another until they reach their goal. No matter how often I sweep away their webs, they quickly build them back. Similarly, I can persevere in my "trials of many kinds", knowing that they build my faith and help me to become "mature and complete". Instead of griping about those webs, they can remind me each morning to keep trusting in God for strength for the day, regardless of the trials that I may face.
Mark 14:38 – Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. (ESV)
Spider silk is stronger than steel and can be stretched quite a bit before it snaps. Their webs serve as both offense, in catching prey, and also defense, in alerting them to predators through vibrations in the strands. The webs are constructed in such a way that failure or brokenness in one area won't cause the entire web to fail.
Just as the spider builds its webs for both offense and defense, so I need to build my life, through Bible study, prayer, and worship with other Christians, in order to be prepared for any life situation that I might encounter. Satan loves to attack the unprepared. I need to be sure that my "silk" is strong — that each day I have donned the armour of God (Ephesians 6:10-18). I want my life to be constructed in such a way that a failure or brokenness in one area won't cause my whole life to come crashing down.
Lamentations 3:22-23 – The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (ESV)
We can be thankful that the Lord persists in loving us and that, like the spider webs, His mercies are new every morning. We can be assured that we can depend on Him for the best offense and defense in any situation, as we put on His holy armour and trust in Him. If we persevere to the end, we will be in the King's palace!
Prayer: Father, thank You that You have provided lessons for us through Your creation. Help us to look to You each day for reminders of Your faithfulness and support as we persevere in our daily lives. Amen.
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Thanks Sharon!
Thanks for the wise words, Sharon.
Thank you so much for such an interesting challenge today.
Many thanks Sharon – your words today are just what I need.
Thank you for sharing this encouraging devotional with us. Blessings.
Our faith grows when circumstances force us to depend on the Lord in prayer and praise.
Thank you for today’s devotion. It was interesting – intertwining the spider web information with a parallel in Scripture. Well done. And memorable.
An awesome example thank you so much Sharon! I pray all will go well for you.
(N.S. Canada)
Hi Sharon
Really liked your message about the spiders and the encouragement to persevere. Thank you.
What a delightful lesson about spiders and their wonderful webs, Sharon.
You wove the strands about spider webs and spiritual lessons together well.
I really needed your message this morning. I sometimes get discouraged, I am 81 years old, and sometimes I just need a little push in faith sometimes. I know my Lord is always faithful!
Sharon,
I will never think about spiders the same way again. May we as Christians, endure to the end. God is faithful to strengthen and guide us to do that.
Thank you for the devotional.
Hi Sharon
Very good devotional. My husband often ends his emails with….
A spider just spins her web
And then quietly waits on God’s providence.
Oh, to be more like a spider.
Hello Sharon
Thank you for this. I did not know this info about spiders. It is encouraging to know how faithful our God is and how His Word provides everything we need. Thank you for this interesting reminder.
God bless.
Sharon, what a good season to draw my attention to spiders and webs! Your references to the crafty spiders and their strong webs and their persistence in rebuilding brought lots of thoughts to my imagination. Thank you for the interesting thoughts you skillfully wove together. I’ll look at webs and spiders differently now.
Thank you, Sharon, for your very interesting and positive devotional today. Yes, those spiders sure do cause a lot of extra brushing and cleaning around various places in the household. Our Lord definitely gives us some unique creations to encounter but He is there to give us the strength to persevere through dealing with what we encounter. Blessings for these great writings you do.
Good morning, Sharon,
That is awesome how many ways you could contrast a spider and its web with our faith journey. I loved them all and totally agree.
Definitely a unique way to look at our faith journey and encouraging of the different steps we need to take. I really liked the “new every morning”, I think because I am very grateful for that in my life. Blessings and joy.
Good Morning, Sharon, and thank you for your devotional today. What a glowing tribute to the spider kingdom, and a great analogy for God’s Kingdom! One of the most dreaded things in cleaning is running in to a web and experiencing that feeling of entrapment in the sticky web. I can’t wipe it away fast enough. You have given me a different way of looking at the webs, and I thank you.
I am reminded of the childhood song “Itsy Bitsy Spider” and how it was washed away by the rain as it crawled up the waterspout. But, in true determination and endurance, the spider turned right around and crawled back up that spout. May we, too, continue to persist in life, for a home in God’s Palace.
Blessings!
(Ontario, Canada)