Recently, as I was following someone in my car and illegally talking to Karla, I glanced to my right and saw a huge spider sitting on my purse “looking” at me. I screamed and flew over two lanes of traffic into the Walgreens’ parking lot. Spiders terrify me and are the creepiest things alive.
I called Karla screaming and scaring her to death. The young man I was following, either saw my sporadic driving or noticed I had disappeared from behind him and quickly called to see what happened. I switched from talking to Karla and in a hysterical voice, let him know about the creature. He said he was turning around and coming. I beeped back over to Karla, but I was not taking my eyes off that spider. My fear was what if it crawled away and disappeared somewhere in the car; I wouldn’t know where it was? Then at anytime in the future while I was driving, the spider could creep back out and crawl up my leg, across my shoulder…
Karla recommended I take off my shoe and hit it. But I was afraid I would miss and send it hiding. I screamed as it finally decided to move and began crawling across my purse scaring poor Karla once more. (Who continued to ask, “How big is this spider, really?” Obviously doubting I should be so afraid) When the young man finally arrived, he picked up my purse and shook it off into the parking lot, setting it free. (Much to my dismay!)
Torment
Life is often like this scenario. Something unexpected rears its ugly head sending us into a panic. We fret over it, not taking our mind or eyes off of it. We are so focused on it that we aren’t aware of things around us. Even when it seems hidden for awhile, we have the fear that it may come crawling back at any moment.
For the rest of the ride in the car, I caught myself continuing to glance back over at my purse, looking for the spider, that I KNEW was no longer in my car. Why am I doing that I thought?
It can often be difficult to forget about something that sent us over the edge. It taunts us in our minds. And just like Karla doubting the size of the spider, others may doubt the magnitude of your problem, not thinking it is a big deal. Yet we are filled with dread, expecting it to rear its ugly head again. Satan knows what triggers us. He knows our weakness. He will torment you, letting it plague your mind, if you let him.
1 Peter 5:8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
Rain, rain go away. Come again another day. We all sang that familiar verse as a child. If you currently live in the South, you may be singing this song as an adult. It has rained day after day. When the rain finally ceased briefly and the sun came out, social media was flooded with comments about the wonderful sunshine.
We all know that plants need both the sun and the rain to grow. As children of God, we need both the struggles and the joys to grow in Him. When you feel you are walking in the rains of life, say a prayer of thanks. For Romans 5:3-4 states, “No only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.”