Said the Spider to the Fly
Chronic illness is like a spider waiting for its victim. We who suffer struggle against the sticky circumstances of life-style changes, daily unexpected impediments, relationship pressures, and moment by moment pain. We do not want to be where we are. We cannot control our environment. We have no say-so over our body’s betrayal. We labor forward in the hope that if we exert enough energy searching for relief, we will find it. “Welcome to my home,” said the spider to the fly.
I certainly feel as if I am a fly caught in the web of pain and fear. God created the spider & the web, and He created me. I know this. Why, then, is it so terribly hard to reach through those painful, fearful circumstances to take His hand and let Him lead?
Perhaps the answer is arrogance, or pride. I know, how can anyone who is so limited in choices be full of pride? Yet don’t we struggle for moments, or even days, in our own strength? Doesn’t “Oh, God!” often sound more like a lament than a prayer? How do we disengage from the sin of self-will that so easily ensnares us? Why is, “just take it to Jesus,” not enough?
The answers to my questions are not easy to find, and I like easy. In fact, I want to stick my head in the sand and not think about my difficulties. But it’s just not that simple. Pain is a Siren’s call that must be answered.
Yet the truth shall set us free, if we but humble ourselves before God, and allow Him to lift us up–whether or not we are in pain. This truth cannot be ignored nor over-shadowed by our circumstances: God can pluck us out of the web of fear caused by the unknown in our lives when we learn the lesson to submit to His will. And thus the lesson of the spider and the fly.
