Web message (spider type)

I was on my way to refill an empty finch feeder when I found the way blocked by an exquisite orb web. I stopped to admire its delicate, intricate artistry and thought of several things. One was the fun, yet profound, children’s story, Charlotte’s Web. It tells of a barn spider who, in an effort to save a personable pig named Wilbur from being slaughtered, begins weaving words into her webs extolling his virtues. The words bring admirers from miles around, and Wilbur is eventually shown off at the local fair.

The first words that saved Wilbur were “some pig,” “terrific,” and “radiant.” The last word, spun at the fair as the spider was dying (having laid her sac of eggs), was “humble.”

I also knew the Bible had a couple references to spiders, both translated from the Hebrew akkabish, used of the many common spiders of the Holy Land.* In Job 8:14, one of Job’s misguided “comforters,” Bildad, describes those who forget God as having spiritual confidence as fragile as a spider’s web. In Isaiah 59:5-6, the prophet describes the activities of sinful Israelites as useless as a spider’s web. They’re so frail that they can’t even be used as clothing. Not exactly encouraging images!

But if you read about how spiders make webs, you’ll come away with profound appreciation for the God as creator of even spiders. For one, spider silk cannot be dissolved in water and is one of the strongest known natural fibers. Most important, a web is built one strand at a time with admirable determination and endurance. If a spider gives up, there is no web to catch prey for food. I’m reminded of Peter’s second letter, in which he encourages believers to keep building on to the basic foundation of faith. From that main, anchoring thread, we’re to make every effort to live out behaviors that honor God.

Wilbur was “some pig,” “terrific,” and “radiant.” God wants our webs to spell out “goodness,” “knowledge,” “self-control,” “perseverance,” “godliness,” “brotherly kindness,” and “love” (2 Peter 1:5-7). If all these qualities are evident in our Christian walk, we’re not to boast about them. Instead, we’re to be, as that last word for Wilbur, “humble.”

What of my garden web? I crawled w-a-y under it to get to my bird feeder, not wanting to disturb it. I hoped the spider would catch lots of the aphids that had homesteaded in my rhododendrons. And I thanked God that, on this ordinary summer morning, He reminded me of His creative power and purpose.

*(The King James version also uses “spider” in Proverbs 30:28: “The spider taketh hold with her hands and is in king’s palaces.” However, the original Hebrew word is semamith, for which concordances give "poisonous lizard" as a primary meaning. Thus (NASB): “The lizard you may grasp with the hands, yet it is in kings’ palaces.”)

Beyond first steps

Photo: Symbols of babyhood--a bonnet and chunky books.
A few weeks ago, the media reported that an 18-year-old from the Philippines was now the record-holder as the “World’s Smallest Man.” This person quit growing at age one year and is only twenty-two inches tall. He has difficulties speaking, easily falls, and must stay home under his mother’s protective care.His family hoped his notoriety of getting in the Guinness Book of Records would help them find medical care for him.

Hormonal anomalies are certainly to blame for this poor young man’s problems. But his situation got me thinking. What if our physical appearance matched our spiritual and emotional maturity?

Both physical and spiritual “growing up” depend on good food and healthy relationships. On the spiritual side, the “food,” of course, is God’s Word—not just head knowledge, but changed-heart results. The apostle Peter said that new believers need “pure spiritual milk” to grow up in their salvation (1 Peter 2:2). Peter also gave us a progressive list of spiritual growth, beginning with faith, then adding knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love (2 Peter 1:5-7). Those latter qualities are honed through social relationships.

I thank God that I had people in my life who cared deeply that I grow spiritually. They helped me develop social skills, challenged me to discover more about myself through volunteering, encouraged me to persevere in difficulties, and prayed for me and with me in life’s tough places.

“Not failure, but low aim, is a sin,” wrote Dr. Benjamin Mays, an American minister and social activist. The rest of his quote goes like this: “The tragedy of life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach. It isn’t a calamity to die with dreams unfulfilled, but it is a calamity not to dream. It is not a disgrace to not reach the stars, but it is a disgrace not to have stars to reach for.”

James said the person “who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins” (4:17). We may have failures along the way, but God says to get up, dust yourself off, and try again. You don’t need to stay stunted, afraid of falling.

God cares about this whole spiritual-growing-up process: “The Lord delights in the way of the man whose steps he has made firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand” (Psalm 37:23-24).