I read this story about a man who had been in the service during World War II. I thought I would share it with you and maybe we can think about it together. You may have seen this already, but it has a mighty message in it. - Ronnie Mutina
GOD AND THE SPIDER
Comments by Ronnie Mutina
During World War II, a US Marine was separated from his unit on a Pacific island. The fighting had been intense, and in the smoke and the crossfire he had lost touch with his comrades. Alone in the jungle, he could hear enemy soldiers coming in his direction. Scrambling for cover, he found his way up a high ridge to several small caves in the rocks. Quickly he crawled inside one of the caves. Although safe for the moment, he realized that once the enemy soldiers looking for him swept up the ridge, they would quickly search all the caves and he would be killed.
As he waited, he prayed, Lord, if it be your will, please protect me. Whatever your will though, I love you and trust you. Amen.
After praying, he lay quietly listening to the enemy begin to draw close. He thought, "Well, I guess the Lord isn’t going to help me out of this one." Then he saw a spider begin to build a web over the front of his cave.
As he watched, listening to the enemy searching for him all the while, the spider layered strands of web across the opening of the cave. "Ah," he thought, "What I need is a brick wall and what the Lord has sent me is a spider web. God does have a sense of humor." As the enemy grew closer he watched from the darkness of his hideout and could see them searching one cave after another. As they came to his, he got ready to make his last stand. To his amazement, however, after glancing in the direction of his cave, they moved on. Suddenly, he realized that with the spider web over the entrance, his cave looked as if no one had entered for quite a while. "Lord forgive me," prayed the young man. "I had forgotten that in you a spiders web is stronger than a brick wall."
We all face times of great trouble. When we do, it is so easy to forget the victories that God would work in our lives, sometimes in the most surprising ways. As the great leader, Nehemiah, reminded the people of Israel when they faced the task of building Jerusalem. In God we will have success!! (Nehemiah 2:20.)
I thought this was a good example of how we might say, "Lord we trust you," and in all reality we try to take things in our own hands. However, the Lord always has a better way than we do. It reminds me of Paul, when he was in a prison, not knowing what was going to happen in his life. In the book of Philippians, we find a great man of God writing a long letter to the church at Philippi. It didn’t matter, to him, what was going to happen to him, because he knew it would give God all the honor and glory for it.
In Philippians 1:12 - 14, Paul said, "But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel; So that my bonds in Christ are manifest (made known) in all the palace, and in all other places; And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing (growing) confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the Word without fear."
Paul is making clear that it doesn’t matter what kind of things are going on in his life, as long as it honors and glorifies God, and makes men more confident or bold in preaching the gospel. Paul wanted the gospel to reach everyone. This was obvious in Acts 26, when he preached to Felix, Festus, and Agrippa, on his way to preach to Caesar. He was all about preaching God’s Word, and honoring and glorifying God in everything he did. This is our soul purpose in life; to honor and glorify God in all that we do.
The soldier, in the story, which we have read, had faith enough to put it in God’s hands for a certain amount of time, but when he thought that God’s plan wasn’t going to work, he was ready to do his own thing. Paul, on the other hand, was willing to follow God in whatever happened. We see in Philippians chapter 2 that Paul said, "But I trust in the Lord Jesus," twice: Once, in verse 19 and again in verse 24. He was confident that the Lord would handle the situation he was in and that HE would also take care of the church in Philippi. However, in verse 21, Paul said, "For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s." The Palmist said, "It is better to put trust in the Lord, that to put confidence in men" (118:8).
When the soldier saw that the Lord had put up a wall, which saved him from certain death, by using a spider’s web, the first thing the man said was, "Ah, the Lord sends a spider to build a web, and I need the a brick wall." Later, after the enemy had passed by because the web made it appear as if nobody had been that way for some time, he then had to pray, "Forgive me Lord for not trusting in YOU." We are no different. We say we trust in the Lord, but as soon as trouble seem eminent, we are looking in other directions and asking, "How am I going to handle this? We should put all of our trust in the Lord, no matter what comes our way. And if it doesn’t happen the way we want it, we should be like Paul and say what he said in Philippians 1:12 – 14. Remember: Whatever is happening in your life, in God, a mere spider’s web becomes a brick wall of protection and if you allow it too, it will bring honor and glory to HIM. After all, it’s not about us anyway; IT IS ALL ABOUT HIM. Wouldn’t you agree?
