the pursuit of godliness

jennchow:

Yesterday, my husband squished a spider in the kitchen.  Last week, I killed a spider in the kitchen, too; and the week before, my husband exterminated a large daddy-long-leg chilling on the ceiling; and the week before that, I stopped a large, green-backed, eight-legged intruder from entering our abode further, and also murdered another of those large critters in our bathroom.

I don’t like spiders. I consider them nature’s ugly surprise and boot camp activity for housewives.  Tiny ones are okay.  Large ones should die in lava spills.  But, there was one thought that surprised me when I watched that green one crawl from our entrance: Spiders are not envious.

I know a temptation for housewives would be to envy other women who aren’t housewives, or other housewives.  With a cultural onslaught of “working is always good” messages, and “aim for material riches” messages, I think it’d be easy for wives - especially those without firm conviction of their role - to swiftly be disillusioned into dissatisfaction of their wifely duties, their state-of-being, and then their marriage.  Hence, they become envious of others’ “freedoms,” and/or become jealous and yearn for things that God simply does not have in His will for them.  And, as I should know, envy and jealousy are destructive (Prov.6:34, Psa.78:58, James 3:14-16).

So, how did a spider enlighten me on this issue?  I realized that the “small” spider probably didn’t envy large creatures, like me - it didn’t seem to complain when I overshadowed it’s body with my hand.  I don’t think it even wished to be a lion, tiger, or bear to defend itself.  It appeared to accept the fact that, at that fateful moment, I had the upper hand.  Overall, a spider is content with being a spider and having its abilities, inabilities, strengths, and flaws.

God engages creature metaphors quite a bit.  Proverbs 30:24-31 is an excellent example, where ants, locusts, and lizards act and conduct themselves in ways that exceed that of people.  They are wise creatures, working hard for their food, creating orderly societies, and are resourceful.  Rock badgers, though not mighty, build their homes in the cliffs, and, frankly, as a homemaker, I can’t even dig a hole in a cliff.

Needless to say that all of God’s creation is amazing.  From the plants that grow, to the mighty mountains, to the rivers, to all that is living, etc., everything works together in complimentary fashion.  None contends with another, nor complain of its purpose.  Likewise, I mustn’t complain of my purpose at home, nor envy others of what they do.  This is where the Lord wants me to be, this is who the Lord desires of me to become, and it’s entirely biblical.  Why desire someone else’s life?  If I love the Lord, I must love His will, and His will will be my joy to follow.  If a spider can reflect that, I’m sure I can to, especially with the Spirit’s help.

(However, though animals can easily put me to shame, those spiders still have to go…)