Web of Protection

My mom emailed me this little story. I thought it was pretty neat.

GOD AND THE SPIDER

During World War II, a US marine was separated from his unit on a Pacific
island. The fighting had been intense, and in the smoke and the crossfire
he had lost touch with his comrades.

Alone in the jungle, he could he hear enemy soldiers coming in his
direction. Scrambling for cover, he found his way up a high ridge to
several small caves in the rock. Quickly he crawled inside one of the
caves. Although safe for the moment, he realized that once the enemy
soldiers looking for him swept up the ridge, they would quickly search
all the caves and he would be killed.

As he waited, he prayed, "Lord, if it be your will, please protect me.
Whatever your will though, I love you and trust you. Amen."

After praying, he lay quietly listening to the enemy begin to draw close.
He thought, "Well, I guess the Lord isn't going to help me out of this
one." Then he saw a spider begin to build a web over the front of his
cave.

As he watched, listening to the enemy searching for him all the while,
the spider layered strand after strand of web across the opening of the
cave.

"Hah, he thought. "What I need is a brick wall and what the Lord has sent
me is a spider web. God does have a sense of humor."

As the enemy drew closer he watched from the darkness of his hideout and
could see them searching one cave after another. As they came to his, he
g ot ready to make his last stand. To his amazement, however, after
glancing in the direction of his cave, they moved on. Suddenly, he
realized that with the spider web over the entrance, his cave looked as
if no one had entered for quite a while. "Lord, forgive me," prayed the
young man. "I had forgotten that in you a spider's web is stronger than a
brick wall."

We all face times of great trouble. When we do, it is so easy to forget
the victories that God would work in our lives, sometimes in the most
surprising ways. As the great leader, Nehemiah, reminded the people of
Israel when they faced the task of rebuilding Jerusalem, "In God we will
have success!" [Nehemiah 2:20]

And remember: Whatever is happening in your life, in God, a mere spider's
web becomes a brick wall of protection.