My eyes are ever toward the Lord,
for he will pluck my feet out of the net. Psalm 25:15
A little spider began to weave a web between the posts on our covered porch. It was fascinating to watch as it dipped and dove, spun and released, instinctively knowing how to make a perfect pattern. The web was intricate and almost invisible until the sunlight caught it just right. After the spider was through, it crawled to the edge and sat very still. It wasn’t long before an unexpected fly ran into the web. It was trapped. The more the fly struggled, the more it became caught in the sticky fibers. The spider just waited. I wondered, if the fly hadn’t panicked and struggled, could it have escaped?
When I read this passage, I thought of that little fly and saw a connection. I have a tendency to ruminate. If someone says or does something hurtful to me, or misinterprets what I have said or done, which also hurts, I can’t get it off my mind. I chew on it like a cow chooses on cud, and become more hurt and more entangled in the situation. I try to lay it at the foot of the cross, but I pick it up again and it sticks to me even more. It is because I have not taken my eyes off
the hurt. Like that fly, I am trapped by my own thoughts. Doubts began to cover me, paralyzing me from receiving His gracious help. Does that happen to you? Or are you the type who can shake it off and fly away?
The Psalmists says when he looks to the Lord, God plucks his feet from the net. When we stop looking at what is hurting or cruel or unfair and look instead to our Lord, we become less entangled in the situation. When I stop struggling with the emotions, and how I might have done something different or how an I change the other person’s mind, I can better give it to God and find peace. God can pluck me from the net of hurt, confusion and tangled humanness, and place me on solid ground, if I keep my eye on Him. No longer trapped, I am content to let Him be in control of what happens next and give me the words to say if it is His will for me to say or do anything. It gives me the chance to not focus on me, but to pray for the other person. For all I know, they are entangled in something, too. They may need God to release them before reconciliation can begin. I need to give Him that chance.
