Of Leaps of Faith and Safety Tethers
In his book Nature's Hallelujah: Daily Devotions Inspired by the Natural World, author Dwight Davis gives insights into the world of the amazing jumping spider ...
The tiny jumping spider may seem unimpressive, but it has many extraordinary gifts—one being exceptional vision. With its large, forward-facing eyes, it sees the world in remarkable detail, allowing it to leap with precision and navigate its surroundings with confidence. This is important, since it doesn’t merely build a web and wait—it actually hunts by stalking.
But there’s another fascinating habit the jumping spider has: before it leaps, it anchors itself with a silk safety line. This thread remains attached, ensuring that if the jump fails, the spider won’t fall too far. Although it trusts its vision, it never jumps without staying connected.
Like the jumping spider, we need clear spiritual vision—but we also need a spiritual anchor, a safety line that is always attached. Without insight from God, we can easily stumble, making choices based on our limited understanding. And without remaining connected to Him—through His Word, prayer, and daily submission to His will—we risk taking leaps in life without the safety and security only He can provide.
Are you seeing your life through God’s eyes or only your own? And are you staying anchored to Him as you take steps of faith?
"Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law." — Psalm 119:18
"We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain" — Hebrews 6:19
"Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the LORD holds them by the hand." — Psalm 37:24
Prayer: Lord, open my eyes to see Your truth clearly. Keep me grounded in Your Word and anchored in Your presence, so I can walk—and leap—with confidence and trust. Amen.
Why Just Polish Stones When You Could Create Jewels
A man walked up to three laborers digging in the ground. As he approached the first man, he asked inquisitively what he was doing, the man looked back with a “you-should-know-this-yourself” attitude and said, “Digging a ditch.”
He walked up to second man and asked the same question. The answer was only slightly better: “I’m earning a living. Just making a living. You know, I’ve got to feed my wife and kids.”
When he asked the third man what he was doing, the man answered with a very positive attitude and with great pride, “Sir, I’m building part of a great irrigation system that will transform this old barren valley into a fertile garden that will produce food for a hungry world!”
We should all be approaching our endeavors with the same attitude as that last man, looking beyond what may seem like meaningless tasks and minor failures today, and see the bigger picture — the ultimate vision — the image of serving others.
You’ll find greater satisfaction in your daily work when you see yourself creating jewels for the crown of God, not just polishing stones, setting long-term goals to keep yourself from becoming frustrated by short-term failures.
Habakkuk 2:3
For the vision is yet for an appointed time ... though it delays, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not delay.
27 Contacts
The British journal of medicine reported in July of 2018 that a woman in England had 27 contacts removed from her eye. She would put them in but wasn't always able to find them, so she just assumed they had fallen out.
Actually, the lenses were slipping to the back of her eye and getting stuck. She just kept adding new ones in, and they piled up. But despite having 27 lenses in her eye, her vision was not 27 times stronger.
We can add more and more theological information to our minds, but if our hearts aren't transformed, it won't give us a clearer vision of God . Information without the Holy Spirit can't bring about the life that God desires.
"They cannot comprehend or understand, for He has shut their eyes so they cannot see, and closed their minds so they cannot understand" (Isaiah 44:18).