DARK DAYS ARE FOR HIS GLORY!
(by E. H. Maze)
Chapter 23
Caught in the Spider’s Web
"For every fly caught in a web,
there was a spider with intentions!" I think that I am the first to
say it that way. The reason I can lay claim to it is because I experienced
it firsthand. Things you experience firsthand have a way of becoming
exceptional lessons and, therefore, exceptional words find their way from the
heart to the head - then, from the pen onto paper. I am very proud of that
saying. Maybe, just maybe, someone will write and tell me that someone
else already used that expression. If so, I will retract my claim.
Nevertheless, it is still mine. I paid dearly to learn the lesson, so I
will keep my claim to this small nugget of truth.
Here is what I mean by the saying, "For every fly caught in a web, there was a spider with intentions!" A fly gets caught in a spider's web. It flew right into the web. Once it is caught in the web, the fly never gets out. Dinner is served - and the fly is dinner. Stupid fly.
Worst of all, the fly, when it first gets caught in the web, doesn’t even know what happened. It doesn’t know that there is a monster behind this. All it knows is that it can’t move anymore. It is vulnerable to any predator. Do you think the fly is thinking, "Could there be a predator behind this?" Actually, that thought isn’t there at all - stupid flies don’t get it. But, we all know that there was a predator at work, don't we? It was the spider. The web was woven by the spider for the purpose of catching the fly. Elementary.
Except for the fly. There is no obstacle course at fly Boot Camp that prepares the poor fly. There is no “Fly Away” school for young flies that teaches it how to avoid spider webs. Flies are stupid - brainless - unfamiliar. Before it found itself caught in the web, it hadn’t even considered being caught in a web. "What’s a web," it would have asked.
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Most of us don’t spend
much time thinking about sin until the sin itself has us captured in its evil
weave. Only after we are caught do we
wonder what has happened and what’s going to happen next. Stupid flies!
1. How do we avoid being caught in the web?
2. What do we do if we are caught in the web?
3. How can we help others get free from the web?
What Could We do? What if someone you
know is caught in a web? There is the possibility of
swarming the web and, together, freeing the captured fly. We just don’t know how to do it; or, we don’t
want to get involved. Nor, do we want to get caught
up in the web ourselves. We understand
our own weaknesses. We all admit that we
are capable of falling (flying) into the web.
In fact, how many of us have been there before and know what it is
like. You have compassion, maybe, but
you’ve decided you would never be there again.
Or, how about this one - “He got himself in, he can get himself out.”
The least admired, from my
point of view, are those who have never been caught in a web. The lucky ones. Unfortunately, the lucky ones are also the
prideful ones. I know because I used to
be one of them. I had never been
anywhere near a web. My friends helped
build the pride in me by saying such things like: “Oh, he’s harmless!” “Wouldn’t hurt a fly!" (that’s ironic, isn’t
it?). “If there is anybody you can
count on, it’s that guy right there.”
But, that’s the funny thing
about webs - and spiders.
1. The web doesn’t pick its next target. Spiders know that they can build webs anywhere. There are plenty of stupid flies flying around. There may be some choice locations for building webs, but, honestly, any place will do
2. The Spider is, however, looking for the juicy
flies. Pride in your past, in your own strength,
in your "great" reputation causes blindness. That is what the spider is hoping
for. The small fries (I mean, small
flies) are only between meal snacks. The
spider can survive on the small ones and the small ones can sustain the web’s
master for a long time. But, the Spider
patiently waits for the big juicy ones.
The big juicy ones are the ones that have avoided the web since
youth. They have matured, and grown fat
and satisfied. But, the Spider also
knows that the bigger flies are slower now - vulnerable. Older flies are full of pride.
And, if pride doesn’t get them, old age will. Pride will slow you
down more quickly than old age.
When I was a fly, my eyes went
crazy. I could not see where I was
going. I flew right into the web and
didn’t even know it was there. Shucks,
folks, people were warning me the whole time, but my ears were closed. I still haven’t figured out what was so
appealing about that web! Truth is, I
knew exactly what I was doing. It wasn’t
my ears or my eyes that were going bad, it was my head. I had convinced myself that, since I had
never been captured by a spider, that there wasn’t even a spider out there
looking for me.
Make no mistake - Satan is out there, waiting patiently for you to slip up. He may come disguised as a woman, or a man; he may lay before you an opportunity you never had before; or, he may design a plan that intoxicates you so heavily that you begin flying in circles and the dizziness allows you to fly right into the trap.
Warning: "Take head when you think you stand, lest you
fall." You can look that up in the Bible, my friend. But, you
can, also, just take my word for it.
Make no mistake with my little parable of the fly and the spider: The path you are flying is sin. The web is the result of sin. The spider is Satan. And the fly, of course, is you.
I have never seen a fly escape the unrelenting terror of the approaching spider who is confident that his web will hold. If you are flirting with disaster, disaster is flirting with you. You both want each other, and the web of sin will accommodate both of you. But, you will lose. NO, don't try to pretend you didn't hear me! YOU WILL LOSE!
You are already captured. You are bound by the web and destined for destruction by its host. There is no way out!
None.
To make matters worse, the spider isn't even home. So, you will have to lay there, struggling with all your might to free yourself from the ropes that bind you. You will have plenty of time to contemplate your past, present and short-lived future. You will become so tormented that you will beg for death. You will be glad when the spider finally gets to you.
After all, you deserve death for what you did. The spider had intentions, yes, but so did you. You will realize that you can't blame the spider. The web was all bright and shiny, its lure transforming the mediocrity of your life, your marriage, your job into more than you bargained for. Perhaps, just perhaps, it was the spider itself that mesmerized you. She was beautiful (for the moment) - tantalizing and tapping into your fleshly desires for a new pleasure. She sparkled and winked, spitting love potion into your eyes. Perhaps!
Still, when the thrill is gone, she will be obligated to eat you. That's the nature of the beast, so to speak.
When all that happens - when you are caught in the web and the dark days overshadow your life like a fly being wrapped in a web cocoon - when all that happens, not even Jesus can help you. You are going to die.
The web killed me! And, I never want to live through that again!
"Dear Jesus! I am so thankful for your grace. Please, Lord, forgive me! I cry out for your mercy! I am dying here! I went too far, trusted others too much, believed in You too little. My hope is gone. I want to die, Lord, because I never wanted my life to be this bad. Is there anyway, Lord, that you can save me from this mess? When I have been devoured and this terror from my own sin has had its way with me, will you still be here? Will your grace, please Lord, meet me on the other side? Are you my Savior through it all - through my sin, my insanity, my ignorance?
"Dare I ask You, Lord Jesus, to deliver me from this death? Is not your love truly measured by how much your grace abounds in my abounding sin? My days are so dark, my future inevitably ruined, all that I could possible achieve now is to have this testimony: Jesus loves me! Take me, Lord, before this spider devours this man who was borne of Your Spirit. I make no promises. I am powerless to any claims. I am Yours. Come and redeem yours. My heart and my soul cannot measure the tears that have flowed from eyes that cannot see You in this darkness, yet know that You are Here.
Dear Lord, let there be light!"
And there was light, because dark days are for His glory!
end of Chapter (click here to go to Epitaph)- if link is not active, the chapter is not yet ready. Check back later, please.
Please let me know if you have read (and enjoyed) this chapter by sending me a quick email to: ehylandmaze@aol.com
bless you.....................................Eugene H. Maze
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