Godly Lessons from a Spider and Its Web?

“Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so perishes the hope of the godless. What he trusts in is fragile; what he relies on is a spider’s web. He leans on his web, but it gives way; he clings to it, but it does not hold.” (Job 8:13-15)

Recently, my husband discovered a large spider hanging in a web that was blocking the entrance to our deck in the back of our home. Amazed at the size of this creature, I ran to get my camera to see if I could get a good macro shot. After analyzing the photos I took, I wondered what scripture said about these eight-legged arachnids.

Surprisingly, the passage I found was a warning for all of us: We are not to leave the Lord Jesus out of our lives. Without Him we have no hope. We are to rely on Him and Him only, because if we don’t, whatever we choose to lean on will fall apart.

I always believed spider webs were pretty sturdy. According to dandydesigns.org, spider web material is about one-tenth the diameter of a human hair, but it has incredible strength. It is 10 times stronger than a strand of steel of the same weight. Sounds pretty strong, huh? But the truth is webs don’t remain that way. A freshly spun web is silk-like, extremely elastic and sticky, so it can trap all sorts of prey. But after a short while, the web loses its stickiness and elasticity, breaks apart and can no longer capture prey.

Just as the spider’s web eventually loses it strength and gives way, so will anything we lean on other than the Lord. Many people rely solely on their jobs, bank accounts, material possessions, friends, family members, good reputations, academic titles and college degrees for security. But all of these things are fragile and will not provide a firm foundation — or any hope. Only our Lord can give us these things. So the next time you see a spider in its web, let it be a reminder to lean on the Lord, for He is our strength and our ultimate hope who will never give way.