Arachnophobia

Arachnophobia is the fear of spiders.  There are varied reasons a person might fear a spider: their fangs, their eight hairy legs, their fangs, or their clusters of eyes.  I think spiders are cool to look at (from a distance).  And though I might be tempted to scream like a schoolgirl if one got on me, I am not afraid of spiders.  However, I do hate them.  Well, not the spider so much as its web. 

I think most spider webs are a work of art—best viewed from a distance. Yet, when I unknowingly walk through a spider web, I come unglued.  I want to pat my body down like it’s on fire to extinguish the life of the million little invisible spiders that go flooding over my body like a tsunami wave.  I thrash about like a man under attack by a swarm of bees. I want to run screaming into a body of water, or throw myself on the ground and roll around like a dog with fleas. My skin is crawling just thinking about it.

I hate those webs, but they’re the only webs I hate.  I hate the webs sin weaves around my life.  Sin is a subtle weaver, working tirelessly in the background, spinning and spinning.  Sin is content to set the trap and wait; because it knows that sooner or later we’ll come stumbling along.  If only we would flee at the first contact with the trap.  But it seems we are content with wrapping ourselves within its sticky confines.

Paul urges, "Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving" (Col. 4:2).  We are to be watchful in prayer always anticipating the next trap, and always seeking wisdom from the Lord to escape that trap.  Watchfulness isn't easy, but it is necessary.  If we let our guard down for even a moment, we are headed for trouble.  Let us seek the Lord, who is ever watchful, and who is able to make us to keep watch.