Spiders Web

A young soldier found himself in a terrible and hopeless battle.

The enemy was soundly defeating this young man's army. He and his

comrades found themselves hastily retreating from the battle

field in defeat, running away in fear for their very lives. The

enemy gave chase. This young man ran hard and fast, full of fear

and desperation, but soon found himself cut off from his comrades

in arms.

He eventually came upon a rocky ledge containing a cave. Knowing

the enemy was close behind, and that he was exhausted from the

chase, he chose to hide there. After he crawled into the cave, he

fell to his face in the darkness, desperately crying to God to

save him and protect him from his enemies. He also made a bargain

with God, one which I (and perhaps you too?) have made before. He

promised that if God saved him, he would serve Him for the

remainder of his days.

When he looked up from his despairing plea for help, he saw a

spider beginning to weave its web at the entrance of the cave. As

he watched the delicate threads being slowly drawn across the

mouth of the cave, the young soldier pondered its irony. He

thought, "I asked God for protection and deliverance, and he sent

me a spider instead. How can a spider save me?"

His heart was hardened, knowing the enemy would soon discover his

hiding place and kill him. And soon he did hear the sound of his

enemies, who were now scouring the area looking for those in

hiding. One soldier with a gun slowly walked up to the cave's

entrance. As the young man crouched in the darkness, hoping to

surprise the enemy in a last-minute desperate attempt to save his

own life, he felt his heart pounding wildly out of control.

As the enemy cautiously moved forward to enter the cave, he came

upon the spider's web, which by now was completely strung across

the opening. He backed away and called out to a comrade, "There

can't be anyone in here. They would have had to break this

spider's web to enter the cave. Let's move on."

Years later, this young man, who made good his promise by

becoming a preacher and evangelist, wrote about that ordeal. What

he observed has stood by me in times of trouble, especially

during those times when everything seemed impossible.

He wrote: "Where God is, a spider's web is as a stone wall. Where

God is not, a stone wall is as a spider's web."

-- Author unknown