Patience - Learning from a spider!
Caroline Old has written about her recent encounter with a spider ... If you have arachnophobia, don't panic - both Caroline and the spider are in one piece! Here is her blog entry:
At the top of my garden there is a little shed with a chicken run attached. Every morning I go there and open the shed door, to let out our one remaining cockerel. Last Sunday morning I opened the door as normal, not looking closely, and ended up with a spider’s web on my glasses and in my hair. Yuk! I apologised for ruining the spider’s hard work and went on my way after checking that our elderly cockerel was still alive.
Sunday evening came; it was time to close the door. I had forgotten about the spider’s web and ended up with more in my face and hair. On Monday morning I remembered about the spider and could actually see him sitting in the middle of his web. The end point was attached to the far side of the shed door. I decided I could open the door enough if I squatted down and wedged it with a brick. This meant that in the evening our cockerel could get back into bed and not be stuck outside. Opening the shed door warped the web a little but it held and both of us were happy. As I write this it’s now Wednesday and the spider and I have a happy partnership going on.
It takes an ‘Orb’ spider about an hour to spin a circular web. Each part of the web is designed so that if it gets trashed (by a human or a fly) then only part of it (providing it’s a fly) needs repairing. Its patience is quite remarkable. The spider spins the web, leaves it hanging and just waits. In time, the fly will come and be caught up in the web. We don’t know what the spider contemplates during that time of waiting ... but, it continues to wait.
Friendship or co-existing develops through learning about one another and this is the same with God the Father and His children - you and me. The spider shows us that quiet times are good, it’s when our batteries get fully recharged. It is during the times we spend with the Spirit, either reading the word of God or taking in His beauty, that we are encouraged and learn and get closer to Jesus.
James 5:7-8: Be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. A farmer patiently waits for his valuable crop to grow from the earth and for it to receive the autumn and spring rains. You, too, must be patient. Do not give up hope, because the Lord is coming soon.
