Be Smart Like a Spider

Josh on July 14th, 2009

On my nightly 4-mile walks (down 30 lbs in 7 weeks as of this writing!) I’ve been noticing something that struck me as odd. There are lamps that light up the trees on the paths around our community, and the area around these lights are always covered in thick spiderwebs.

Now, that is particularly annoying when you’re walking down the sidewalk through a labyrinth of cobwebs fearing that as you walk, spider venom will knock you to your knees and they’ll feast rabidly on your paralyzed body. Once I shook that feeling and wiped the webs off, I stopped for a minute last night to see exactly why this was happening. In about 2 seconds it made sense.

At night, bugs are attracted to lights. Spiders build massive webs near these lights to trap bugs for food. I’m sure it didn’t take but a couple hungry nights for them to figure this out. One little tweak and there was a feast! For the rest of my walk, I couldn’t stop thinking about this – what tweak do I need to make right now to my ministry and personal life that would have huge results? What am I missing that I need to be doing that could result in a huge gain? Where do I need to move to feast?

Here’s what I’m came up with, though I’m sure yours will be different:

  • I want to do more lunches where students are. For me, thankfully, that’s Chipotle. I want to eat there once a week just to look for students I already know and meet the unchurched friends they’re hanging with that day. Had a great experience two nights ago at Denny’s with a core student, a crowd student and 2 non-churched friends. I want more of those experiences.
  • I want to be more intentional about my walk with God. 13 years in youth ministry, and I still fight the temptation to walk on my own instead of with God. When I came to Saddleback, I thanked God I was in over my head and would have to rely on Him or drown. 5 years later, the battle is back.

JG

Comments (2)

Shawn Monclova at 12:25pm July 14

Great post. How often do you walk? And do you power walk or anything? I could do with 30 less pounds myself.

John Rinaldo at 8:38pm July 14

That struggle about walking with God seems to be a challenge for many of us. For me, I find it’s my ego that takes me away from that walk with God. I can relate to your second bullet. Thanks for giving me something to reflect on. Spiders.