Have you walked into a spider web? Spider webs are easy to run into. They are made of tiny silk threads that become nearly invisible in the dark. When I walk through one, I always wonder if I also collected the spider. When this happens, it makes me sad knowing that I destroyed such a beautiful display of art.

 

In the fall, spiders seem to be more active around my house. Sometimes I find them in a window corner or under the porch. Lately, I have had the privilege of watching an orbweaver spider who has found the perfect spot for web building. Each night, it constructs a web between the basketball rim and post along my driveway. I avoid walking through that area at night. The spider begins by building an outer frame and then adds spokes (like a bicycle wheel). It completes its work by adding a sticky spiral to fill the gaps. A nearby streetlight allows me to watch the spider lay down each silk thread. I’m sure the lighted location is also good for catching night-flying insects attracted to light.

Whether the spider is successful at catching these insects, I do not know, because the web is gone each morning. The spider eats the web. Why? To recycle the silk proteins to create a new web each night. Not all spiders make a new web daily; some reuse them. At my previous house I often saw yellow garden spiders.

 

These beautiful black and yellow orbweavers left their webs up for a week or more, allowing me to see if they were catching and storing insects.

 

Psalm 104:2-3 says. “(The Lord)…stretches out the heavens like a tent and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters…”

 

God stretched out the heavens with order and gave spiders similar blueprints for creating webs. We see God’s order throughout creation—in bird nests, termite mounds, bee hives, beaver dams, and even the rhythms of day and night and changing seasons. His order is stamped on creation for the good of animals, plants, and us, but ultimately so that we would find Him and know Him.

“God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us”.

Acts 17:27 (NIV)

Dear God, thank you for creating order in our world. Give us eyes to see that order as we hunt for you daily. Fill our hearts with wonder as we learn more about you, Lord.

Fun Fact:

Funnel-web spiders create a web in the shape of a funnel. They hide in the neck of the funnel to hide from predators while they wait for insects. When the flat part of the web is disturbed, the spider comes out of hiding to see if it has captured an insect.

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