Spider Time
I was visiting my mum yesterday, and we started talking about the colder evenings, when our conversation turned to spiders moving indoors for warmth.
She told me about a massive one she’d found in her bedroom.
She squished it and moved on, as you do!
As a child I remember a big one running over my bed and I’ve never been fond of them since.
I shared our current spider saga; the one Amilya spotted in our living room.
She tried to get it. Missed. Tried again. Missed. Third time: still missed.
And then it disappeared behind the couch.
We haven’t seen it since 
We’re now living in this strange state of quiet dread, knowing it’s in there somewhere… waiting. We shake out blankets. We check under cushions. We know it’s there, and the not-knowing is almost worse than the spider itself.
That’s when my mum mentioned an old bit of folklore: Chestnuts are supposed to ward off spiders.
Luckily, I’d picked up a few chestnuts on a recent trip down in England.
So, about 10 days ago, for strategic defence I placed them in the living room, sadly I’m not sure if they are working or the spider’s just biding its time…
There’s a kind of anxiety that comes when something feels off, but you don’t know what to do.
Faith over Fear
The spider is small, but the fear feels big. And the more invisible it becomes, the more space it takes up in your head.
Life is like that.
There are things we can’t see but feel. Worries can creep in. Fears about the future, or regrets from the past, or things deep inside us that we just don’t want to face.
We try to manage it with strategies, sayings, or spiritual chestnuts we hope will protect us.
But they don’t always help.
2 Timothy 1:7: “God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
God doesn’t remove every threat, or every spider, or every uncertainty.
But He can and does remove the fear of them.
I know His Spirit brings clarity, calm, and courage, even when something’s still lurking in the background.
What’s the “spider behind the couch” in your life right now?
