I love living where I do. Deer come right up to my fence to eat the corn I leave for them. Hummingbirds dash around – fighting over the feeder. An occasional hawk perches on a limb, eyeing the bird feeder and an armadillo sometimes ventures into my yard.
I love sharing my yard with the wildlife.
What I don’t love are the spiders.
Last week, I declared war on all eight-legged insects. They had taken over my patio and stolen my serenity. The high-paid pest control people can’t seem to eradicate the spiders, so I did a little research. Google told me spiders eat with their hands and don’t like peppermint, so I ordered a gallon of peppermint spray and went on the attack.
I turned over every chair and table on my patios, broomed off all webs and egg sacks, and stomped on spiders. Then I spayed so much peppermint under the tables and chairs that I was sure Santa’s elves would show up.
I had such a sense of accomplishment!
Until I noticed the wasps on my front porch. Now, I usually leave wasps alone, but these guys had built such a large nest it was becoming dangerous to go out my front door. AND I was afraid Amazon would quit delivering. And we all know we can’t let that happen.
Back to the wasps. For about a week, as evening approached and the wasps were returning to their “home,” I attacked with wasp spray. I tried to recruit my husband to assist with Operation Wasp Attack.
“Hon, a nest is really high up on the porch ceiling. Would you use the extension pole to shoo the wasps down to me, and I’ll hit them with the spray?”
Insert rolling eyes emoji.
But he did help, and we began to win the battle.
I was feeling really good about my spider and wasp eradication until, from my kitchen window, I saw wasps flying around but disappearing into the eave. I suspected there was one more wasp “home” there. Oh, well! At least it wouldn’t hinder Amazon deliveries.
After a weekend away, I noticed a huge zipper spider and web above the door going into the garage. Ugh! I’ve heard these are “good spiders,” so I ignored it for a while.
One evening, I sat down on the doorstep to put my shoes on for a walk and tried to ignore the spider above my head. On the ground were little white masses. They looked like cocoons. When I looked closer, I could see wasp bodies wrapped up in web-like material. Eek! That is precisely what it was—little wasp carcasses. Apparently, the spider caught the wasps in its web, wrapped them up in a web cocoon, sucked the life out of them, and pushed them out of the web. Google also told me that little, creepy tidbit.
Umm, thank you, spider, for killing the wasps that were flying around my kitchen window!?
Umm, I guess you can live.
I spent a lot of time (and bug spray) trying to kill the wasps – after I tried to eradicate the spiders. Jokes on me because, in the end, the spider problem took care of my wasp problem.
My pest problem resembles my Christian life in many ways. I run around trying to solve a problem on my own, often exerting a lot of time and energy and ending up making a mess of things. It would be easier if I remembered to wait for the Lord to handle the pesky situations in my life. He doesn’t always fix the problem like I want, but he softens my heart and gives me His perspective, perseverance, and strength.
I can spend my time fretting, doubting, or even ignoring my problems, yet I know, in the end, the Lord will see me through the difficult situations. He will provide a way. He has – time and time again, and I know he will again and again. So, I can put away the proverbial spiritual bug spray and allow the Lord to take care of the pesky pests in my life.
Spiders and wasps reminded me of the powerful prayer of Psalms 91:
1He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust.”
3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler
And from the perilous pestilence.
4 He shall cover you with His feathers,
And under His wings you shall take refuge;
His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,
Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
And ten thousand at your right hand;
But it shall not come near you.
8 Only with your eyes shall you look,
And see the reward of the wicked.
9 Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
10 No evil shall befall you,
Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
11 For He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all your ways.
12 In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.
14 “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him on high, because he has known My name.
15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him,
And show him My salvation.”
I’m heading out for some happy, pest-free (for now) porch-sitting!
How about you? Do you have pesky things in your life that you need to turn over to the Lord and allow Him to take care of the problem?
So good
A very good read! Thank you Lord for the pesky things that remind me to lean on you.