“They hatch deadly snakes and weave spiders’ webs.  Whoever falls into their webs will die, and there’s danger even in getting near them.”  Isaiah 59:5 NLT

Have you ever noticed how many spider webs are hanging around?  Yesterday I received a text from my sweet friend, Kristie, who asked me to pay attention to the spider webs as I left my house.  The morning dew had caused every web to be visible.

At first glance, I saw only the webs in the bushes and the grass.  The closer I looked I saw spider webs in the tree branches.  I saw them in the power lines, too.  As I drove out of my subdivision and onto the main roads, I could see spider webs everywhere.  There were too many to count.

The webs were beautiful as they glistened in the morning sun.  Most of the time, spider webs are invisible; we don’t even know they are there.  So it is with the evil one.  He is everywhere, just like the spider webs.  We cannot always see him, but make no mistake; he is there.  God used Kristie and the morning dew to reveal this hidden danger.

The evil one uses our weaknesses as a spider web to trap us.  Our web could be food, or shopping; alcohol, or gambling; porn or gossip; anything that keeps us from doing our best or distracts us from what God wants us to do.

Evil entices us with the awe of beauty that is so attractive it’s hard to look away.  We become mesmerized as we look; and the closer we get the more danger we are in.  The spider web attracts its prey and before we know it, we are stuck in a sticky web that the evil one has spun.  The more we move, the more stuck we become. Trapped.

The spider (evil one) will then come and suck the life out of whatever is stuck in the web.  The evil one’s job is to steal, kill and destroy [John 10:10a], and he will do anything and use anyone to make sure his mission is successful.  Once a bug is trapped in a web, the only way out is if someone literally cuts the strands away from the bug.  Once we are trapped, the only way out is if God comes and cuts the strands away from our soul.

This morning I opened the front door to go get the mail, and a spider had spun a massive web directly in front of the door so big that I could not get around it.  I got the message loud and clear.  I ran and got my broom so I could knock the web down; spotted the spider trying to get away and I stomped on it.

Don’t give the evil one a foothold in your life.  Persevere.  Be on your guard.  Suit up in God’s armor [Ephesians 6:10-18] every single day.  Ask God for wisdom; ask Him to show you the spider webs in your life.  Ask Him for courage to overcome the weakness, and ask Him for a way out when tempted.  Ask Him for the strength to knock down the web and to stomp on the spider.

Peace be with you.

~Julia