Spider Webs

 

I praise you, LORD, for being my guide. Even in the darkest night, your teachings fill my mind. (Psalm 16:7 CEV)

 

Recently I caught up with a friend whom I hadn't seen in weeks. She's the kind of person who always has something interesting going on, and over lunch she shared all the amazing events that happened to her over the summer. I certainly didn't envy her, because a lot of those things were difficult to go through. However, she had a grand tale to tell nonetheless. At one point, she said, "If they made a movie out of my life, I think it would be action/adventure. What about you?" I thought for a  moment, then said, "My life is more like one of those 18th century English novels that they make you read in high school.. Sure, it will be revered as a classic one day, but for the most part, it's long, boring and there are huge chunks where nothing is going on."

As soon as I said it, I regretted it. I've grown a bit more sensitive to the Lord lately, and I felt like it was taking a cheap shot at His handiwork. During a quiet moment on the car ride back, I prayed, I'm sorry, Lord. I know You're working in my life, and You've got a plan. It's just that sometimes You're a little… well, slow.  You understand what I meant, right? There are seasons in your life where you're in a holding pattern. Every day looks dreadfully like the last one. You wake up one morning and find you're still in the same house, with the same job, doing the same old things. Your friends moved on, got married, had babies, etc., and you're still eating Chinese take-out and watching Lifetime TV on Friday nights. You've got faith that God has a brighter future for you, but for right now, you're stuck in a rut. I certainly felt that way.

 

However, the next day I noticed something interesting that changed my perspective. Lately, the spiders in my neighborhood have gotten out of control. First of all, they're the size of silver dollars, and they're everywhere! Just in time for Halloween, I suppose. You don't see them much during the day, but they're often hanging out at night and in the wee hours of the morning. Frankly, they creep me out.

One morning I was walking my dog and noticed the increase of spider webs along my block. It seemed like out of nowhere these things just popped up. And that wouldn't be strange normally, but I'm not talking about a little string dangling from a corner. I'm talking about huge, elaborate webs that stretch between trees. They're massive as though they're out of a movie. I thought, Who has time to build something like this? I mean, I know they don't have jobs, but come on! I never see these spiders move, and over night, they've taken over.

I felt the Lord say, Yes, it's interesting what can be accomplished in the midnight hours. Of course! While we are all sleeping, these guys are slowly weaving their homes. Strand by strand, these little web-slingers work diligently even though we never see it. It's no wonder they are part of God's creation.

You see where I'm going with this, because you may also be in your midnight hour. You've been at work when no one else noticed, building up your faith in the dark. It doesn't look like you've got anything – certainly not anything sturdy enough to hang on to. However, God wants you to keep working. Keep praying. Keep believing. Keep speaking those things that are not as though they were (Romans 4:17).

Dawn is coming, and when the sun hits the dew on your web just right, you'll see a beautiful masterpiece in the morning light. People will stop and stare in amazement. They will marvel at what faith created and be encouraged by all that can be done in the darkness.

 

We call Abraham "father" not because he got God's attention by living like a saint, but because God made something out of Abraham when he was a nobody. Isn't that what we've always read in Scripture, God saying to Abraham, "I set you up as father of many peoples"? Abraham was first named "father" and then became a father because he dared to trust God to do what only God could do: raise the dead to life, with a word make something out of nothing. When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn't do but on what God said he would do. And so he was made father of a multitude of peoples. God himself said to him, "You're going to have a big family, Abraham!" (Romans 4:17 The Message)

 

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