Those Nasty Spiders

My daughter is 10 and she hates spiders. She is mortified by them. Even the mention of a spider being near will make her jump and shiver. Whenever one comes near, she gets very afraid and calls out for me or my wife (whomever is closest). Then she runs over and hides behind us, sure to position herself so that we are between her and the spider.

She is still at that age (though it won't last much longer) where she believes that her mom and dad can do anything and we will know exactly what to do with the evil, menacing spider. She has absolute trust in our ability to protect her and keep her safe. She also knows that it is our desire to protect her, because she knows from experience how much we love her. So, it is a natural, instinctive response for her to look to us when she is afraid.

There will come a time, somewhere in the future, where this will not happen any more. She will "grow up" and no longer think she needs us, or we will be replaced by someone else. She will realize that her parents do not have super powers. We will fail her at some point and she will see our brokenness and frailty.

But, for now, we relish our role as her Super-Powerful Protectors that she runs to when she is afraid.

Our culture has conditioned us to believe that when when we are truly mature adults, we should be able to handle things "on our own." We shouldn't have to run to anyone when we are afraid.

In reality, the exact opposite is true! When we are afraid, we can run to our Abba and He will protect us. Just like my daughter runs to us when she is afraid, we can run to God and rest in His loving arms. This can, and should, be instinctual. We should never outgrow our dependence on God. We are comforted in knowing that we can always run to God and receive His help in dealing with those nasty "spiders."