Spiders! (And Other Dead Distractions)

This morning I am thinking about the scary, fake spider that my prankster-loving daughter placed on the floor of my living room the other night.  You see, I made the mistake of telling her about the real spider I found early one morning.  It was smack dab in the middle of my “spot” on the floor, in the room where I like to sit to pray.  Suppressing a scream, I backed up quickly toward the door.  I wanted to run and grab the bug spray, but I thought, “What if it scurries off and hides somewhere and I can’t find it?”  So I stood, staring at the spider.  And it just sat there, still as a stone.  While I stood, I wondered where it had come from.  It hadn’t been there the night before.  I looked around for something I could throw at the spider, but there was nothing within reach.  I knew I would have to take some kind of brave action because my precious quiet time was ticking away.  I decided to go get the bug spray.  When I got back, I found it odd that the spider still had not moved at all.  I courageously moved closer, and leaned down a bit.  The spider didn’t budge.  I realized, then, that the spider was dead.  In recounting this to my daughter, I joked about how I thought God must have struck the spider dead for daring to trespass onto our sacred space.  Anyway, I swept up the dead spider and discarded it.  Then I headed back to the room, wanting to make the most of the remaining moments before I’d need to get ready for work.  But, oh, how I struggled to focus!  I kept looking around to see if other spiders might be emerging from secret places.  I was utterly distracted.  Ultimately, I had to concede that the score that morning was Quiet Time: 0, Spider: 1.  It seems that whenever I set my heart to do things that are positive and productive—like practicing patience, or avoiding gossip and other negative talk, or walking in forgiveness, or loving fully without fear—along come the spiders.  There are (among many others) spiders of insecurity, spiders of doubt, and spiders of fear.  They come in various forms and sizes.  They positioned themselves squarely in those mental, emotional, and spiritual places where I can’t help but notice them.  They creep in and take a seat right in the face of my commitments.  By their presence, they threaten to rob me of precious, priceless time doing those things that I know are right and good.  But, there is a wonderful insight I have gained from my pre-dawn arachnid adventure.  That is, the spider was dead!  Yes, it was there.  Yes, it was scary-looking.  But it was powerless, because it was dead.  Yes, distractions and obstacles will present themselves in my life.  Sometimes they will catch me off guard.  Sometimes they may cause me to lose focus, but only for a little while.  Inevitably I will come to recognize that these distractions are really just like dead spiders, incapable of hindering what I am to do and become...unless I choose to let them.  I joyfully embrace this truth today, that no weapon (or spider) formed against me will prosper when I am in the sacred place of God’s favor and grace.