2 Timothy 1:7
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
I have an irrational fear of spiders. I scream if I am startled by a spider. I get nightmares after particularly frightening encounters with spiders. I can't even bring myself to touch a picture of a spider! I can't help myself.
I am terrified of spiders with the exception of jumping spiders. For some reason I see jumping spiders as cute.
On Sunday I discovered a horrifyingly, large, ugly, creepy spider by our front door when we were coming home from church. It gave me quite a scare!
I found that this is called a Marbled Orb Weaver.
Marbled Orb Weavers are usually seen in late summer and fall.
They are not aggressive and are also not considered a threat to humans.
Bites are rare and are no worse than bee or wasp stings.
Nocturnal Marble Orb Weavers weave their webs in the evening and then in the morning often take their web down and eat it.
After learning about Marbled Orb Weavers I have been trying to appreciate them for what they are, unique creatures that display God's wonderful design and diverse creation.
In Proverbs 30:24 Agur says, "There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise:"
Then he lists the ants, coonies, locusts, and finally the spider.
Proverbs 30:28 The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings' palaces.
I have always taken this verse to mean that we can learn from the spider that even though we may not have status or wealth we can work hard and take hold of opportunities that will lead us to success, but not necessarily fame.
Any thoughts on this verse?
Also, do any of you struggle with spider phobia? (I made that up but I am sure that psychologists have a term for it. They have a label for everything!)
24 comments:
Ack! I have to say, this is a very generous post of you on that spider's behalf, haha! I'm not freaked out by certain spiders -- but the ones that look big and spooky really squick me out. I'm ashamed now to say I bug-sprayed one that had built a web at eye level by our front door, just because it grossed me out and I felt bad for the moths it liked to eat. Maybe I should have just relocated it...
Kira,
Thank you for your comment! I guess we can't be every creature's friend. I saved the spider, you saved the moths! I believe God made our world with necessary balance. We need moths and spiders. :)
Wow! That is a really a unique spider. I can relate to your fear of spiders, and often feel ashamed that I become so distressed over them. Our house was built in the 1850's and it is surrounded by big old trees. Every fall we have a lot of spiders and some always manage to come inside. They are large wolf spiders, whenever I spot one I must admit I scream and run for the vacuum cleaner. : ) Loved the scriptures! Such great reminders.
I don't recall ever being very afraid of spiders--I guess we were pretty adventurous when we were little, and us girls grew up picking up snakes, rescuing spiders from harm, and that sort of thing. :) To this day, if I see a non-poisonous spider in the house, I usually get a jar or something to pick it up with and carry it safely outdoors. In fact, I just took one outside this morning! :)
Sarah,
Thank you for your comment! In the house that I grew up in we would often get those ugly wolf spiders coming in during the winter, too. I made it a habit to check my rubber boots thoroughly after I got bit by a wolf spider that had climbed into my boot one time!
Sunshine Country,
Thank you for your comment!
You are just like your brother! He frequently relocates spiders and other bugs. My lack of sensitivity towards critters has disappointed Mr. In the Mid-west on many occasions. :( I have made leaps and bounds of progress in caring about animals since we have been married, though. :)
I grew up with little bit different sense of adventure which went more like, "How can I kill this and eat it?" We tried snapping turtle, raccoon, cicadas, frogs, coyote, etc......
And, no, I didn't grow up in Kentucky. :P
I loved this post! I don't fear spiders (I think the term is arachnophobia :) ) but I don't *like* spiders. As long as its outside and non-poisonous I'm ok ... well, idk how I'd feel about a HUGE spider like a tarantula, I'd probably freak out haha, but the not-super-big ones I'm ok with. Inside, I do NOT approve of them.
We had a zipper spider outside our sliding glass door for quite some time. I left it alone, it didn't come inside, and it ate other bugs so we were good. I was actually sad when a heavy rain washed it away.
I will say, though, when I went out at night in the spring the gather violets for making violet jelly, it was a little startling to realize HOW MANY spiders there are outdoors. I was wearing a headlight so I had my hands free, and the light caught their eyes ... like little sparkly jewels or something. At first I didn't know what it was (it's our first spring in the house, someone could've lost something) ... but it was EVERYWHERE. I eventually realized it was lots and lots of spiders. I did shudder a little, but reminded myself that they were just grass spiders, and they were probably actually afraid of me so I didn't need to be worried.
Thanks for dropping by my blog!
I don't love those spiders either!
Isn't it amazing what God and His Word use to teach us lessons! Don't fear. Greatness in small creatures.
What a clever post today.
Found you on Modest Mom.
Hope you have a blessed day today and don't see any more spiders~
Melanie
I have learned to overcome my fear of spiders, snakes and small rodents as I live in the country and am constantly dealing with them! I also try to practice respect and reverence for all God's creatures, so I have learned how to catch spiders that come inside (if they are not poisonous) in a jar or on a duster. Still.....it gives me the shivers every time. I get goose bumps just thinking about them! I was moving pots outside the other day and a spider jumped on me. I did a true Irish Jig! :) The dogs sure thought it was fun! I admire your desire to overcome your fear. Visiting from The Enchanting Rose. x Karen
Great blog post - very thought-provoking! I am actually fascinated with spiders! I always try to take close up photographs of them - I like the one on your blog post! Yes, I do get freaked sometimes if I find them in my bed (it did happen!) - I don't mind if they're there (as long as they don't bite) - I just don't want to know about it! I think we're all conditioned to be afraid of them. Have you ever seen a baby scared of creepy crawlies? We all learn this attitude - like we learn racism and other prejudices. I only ever kill a spider if I don't have another option. I prefer putting a cup over them and release them in the garden, where they belong.
Ahhhh!!! I really am scared to death of spiders but since we are studying them in school this year am trying to at least appreciate them. :) They do eat flies!!! :) We live in an old house and spiders seem to LOVE it here! GULP!!
Ruth Sophia,
Thank you for leaving me a comment!
I didn't know that spider's eyes sparkled like that in the dark. That must have felt weird to have all those eyes looking back at you once you realised what the sparkling was!
Melanie,
Thank you for stopping by and leaving me a comment!
Karen,
Thank you for stopping in and leaving a comment!
If a spider jumped on me I would do a jig, too! :)
Zsuzsa,
Thank you for your comment!
Spiders are quite fascinating of you take the time to learn about them. I think fear of creepy crawlies and grown ups teaching that fear, in large part, probably in born out of ignorance. If more people were taught how helpful spiders are and how to identify the dangerous ones I think they would have less to fear.
That being said, I still have a hard time accepting spiders. :)
Nikki,
Thank you for visiting and leaving a comment!
Yes, for some of us it is a struggle to appreciate our eight legged "friends". :)
I loved your post Kira! Spiders and snakes don't bother me, but I'm not ready to adopt a tarantula or a python either! I have a few spiders hanging around the house and they're quite big. I'm not sure what kind of spiders they are, but seem to pose no harm. My husband even named one of them Bruce.......:) Mice and rats..........Yikes, those critters give me the creeps, but everything living on this planet has its purpose. Have a wonderful rest of the week!
Kelly
I learned to leave the creepy ones outside alone since they usually eat other bugs or insects that I like even less. But if I find any spider inside my home, it is dead meat. :-)
Visiting from Roses of Inspiration blog hop.
Anne,
Thank you for your comment!
I understand wanting to keep the spiders outside!
I have no fear of spiders; as you know ;) Earlier this week there was a wolf spider in my cleaning bucket which I keep in the breeze way and I just dumped it out and moved on.. In general I would prefer if spiders stayed outside or at least in the garage and not in my living space. I actually dislike flies more than I do spiders, but neither scare me. My irrational fear is primarily centered around unidentifiable sounds in other parts of my house; especially at night...
I always took the verse to mean that the spider inhabits kings palaces because she works and goes where she wills.. I haven't put a ton of thought into it though so thanks for pointing it out!
Haley,
Thank you for your comment!
I would think that you might actually like spiders since flies annoy you the most. :)
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the Bible verse!
Sounds like an interesting type of spider. I don't think I'd want to see him near my door though. I'm not afraid of spiders--in fact I'm a bit like the spider/fly/bug executioner around my house...but when I miss when I go in for the kill I do scream and jump back a bit on reflex. 'Twould be bad if they got me before I got them!
Bethany,
Thank you for your comment!
I have enjoyed seeing the spider stories from my readers. :)
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