A SPIDER'S WEB

    The following story is reported to be a true story.  This version
came to me by way of Nathan Ray:

    Robert the Bruce, a young soldier, found himself in a terrible
battle during the Scottish Reformation around 1300.  The enemy was
soundly defeating this young man's army.  He and his comrades found
themselves hastily retreating from the battlefield in defeat, running
away in fear of their very lives.  The enemy gave chase.  This young man
ran hard and fast, full of fear and desperation, and soon found himself
cut off from his comrades in arms.

    He eventually came upon a rocky ledge containing a cave.  Knowing
the enemy was close behind, and that he was exhausted from the chase, he
chose to hide there.  After he crawled in, he fell to his face in the
darkness, desperately crying to God to save him and protect him from his
enemies.

    When he looked up from his despairing plea for help, he saw a
spider beginning to weave its web at the entrance to the cave.  As he
watched the delicate threads being slowly drawn across the mouth of the
cave, the young soldier pondered its irony.  He thought, "I asked God
for protection and deliverance, and he sent me a spider instead.  How
can a spider save me?"

    His heart was hardened, knowing the enemy would soon discover his
hiding place and kill him.  And soon he did hear the sound of his
enemies, who were now scouring the area looking for those in hiding.
One soldier with a gun slowly walked up to the cave's entrance.  As the
young man crouched in the darkness, hoping to surprise the enemy in a
last-minute desperate attempt to save his own life, he felt his heart
pounding wildly out of control.

    As the enemy cautiously moved forward to enter the cave, he came
upon the spider's web, which by now was completely strung across the
opening.  He backed away and called out to a comrade, "There can't be
anyone in here. They would have had to break this spider's web to enter
the cave.  Let's move on."

    Years later, a young man wrote about that ordeal:  "Where God is, a
spider's web is as a stone wall.  Where God is not, a stone wall is as a
spider's web."

    I love that line.  Where God is, a spider's web is as a stone wall.
Where God is not, a stone wall is as a spider's web.  How true!

    "We will shout for joy when you are victorious and will lift up our
banners in the name of our God.  May the LORD grant all your requests.
Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed; he answers him from his
holy heaven with the saving power of his right hand.  Some trust in
chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our
God." (Psalm 20:5-7)

Have a great day!

Alan Smith
White House Church of Christ
White House, Tennessee
www.TFTD-online.com