Henry's Web of Wisdom

The other night at my new house just before bed, I let Grady out. Following behind him, I looked up and in the shadows underneath the tree in I noticed the shadow of something sort of bouncy around in front of me. Moving closer to see what it was, I gasped almost by accident as this large intricate web came into focus. At its center was the outline of a spider. A very big, creepy, crawly spider. I immediately grabbed Grady and ran inside. Spiders don't necessarily scare me, but they gross me out big time.


The next night I came home from class and again in the front yard I saw the spider. It ran up and down, up and down, leaving behind its silky web. This time though, I sort of stood in awe for a moment, watching it quickly yet carefully work. These webs were huge. They literally were from the tree to the grass and equal in width. Kind of boggled my mind that this little insect made such an architectural masterpiece. To my surprise in the morning though, the web was gone and so was the spider.

The next night I kind of got giddy to see if it would be there. When I let Grady out, I excitedly squealed and told Ashley to come see our spider friend. Again, he was busy at work weaving away. In the morning, I was up for a run just before the sun and was surprised to see the web was not there.

I have since affectionately named him Henry. As long as he continues to build his webs outside of my house and not in my room, we can be friends.

Here's what got me; this spider, every single night weaves this giant, crazy amazing web knowing it won't make it to see the morning. Talk about motivation and persistence, wow. I know you're thinking it's ridiculous that I'm about to tell you that God used a spider to teach me about myself but I talked poop a blog ago, so don't act shocked. 

What I can't help but think about when I see Henry every single night, is that despite the seemingly mundane task of building only to be torn down again, he does it anyway. Lately I've been feeling like I can't make any sort of headway. I feel like right when momentum picks up and God's really moving me forward something comes along and well, destroys my web. 

In observing my eight-legged friend Henry, I came to the conclusion that a big part of winning a battle is just showing up. Even if you have to do the same thing everyday in order to survive, at least you have survival. Defeat comes when we give up. Losing isn't a web destroyed; it's failing to build it in the first place. 

The fact is, there will always be something that can defeat us in the day to day aspects of our lives. Think about poor Henry. Guys gotta worry about being squished, sprayed, ate but if he lived in those fears he'd die anyway... his survival depends on his persistence. 

I guess I've just realized that sometimes when we really feel like we need a "win", we might just need to show up. Just because life can seem mundane or victory's at the moment are few and far between doesn't mean your in a losing battle. Henry's web's aren't less complex or smaller because he knows they are going to be destroyed anyway. He works just as hard as the night before. He doesn't let the past motivate the present.

Henry also doesn't need his web to be fancy or glow in the dark or unbreakable. Sometimes we think if we could add, achieve, or change something then things would be better. There's a need for contentment though. An understanding that God is enough. Timothy puts it this way, "A devout life does bring wealth, but it's the rich simplicity of being yourself before God. Since we entered the world penniless and will leave it penniless, if we have bread on the table and shoes on our feet, that's enough" (1 Timothy 6:6-8 MSG).

It took a spider for me to recognize that my biggest battle is against myself. Winning isn't waking up to your web still intact-- wining is the motivating faith to build it again tonight. Winning isn't a gain in status or stuff. It's finding joy in the fact that you're surviving and doing what God made you to do every single day.

Winning is the courage to build without fear. It's perseverance in the struggle.  It's the endurance to continue. The hope to survive. 

Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls! -Hebrews 12:2&3 (MSG)