THE WEB

It had always been something of a curiosity to me why some of our tree limbs had a web wrapped around certain branches. So I decided to investigate. What I found out was that it was a sign that the tree has bagworms.

Bagworms start out life as a caterpillar and then change into a moth. As a caterpillar in the larva stage it is rarely seen. When they metaphors’ the male bagworms are black, fury, clear-winged moths with a one inch wing-span. Females are creamy white and lack wings and legs.

During September and October, the females lay their eggs. But before she does, she spins a silk web all around the branch of the tree where she resides. This web resembles a bag. This is done to protect herself from her natural predator the birds. Female bagworms can lay as many as 500 to 1,000 eggs. The eggs hatch in May and June.

Young larva feed on the leaves and keep chewing on leaves until they turn brown and eventually die. They can strip the branch bare. Everything inside this bag shaped web will die. The rest of the tree however looks healthy. In spiritual terms this is called a fragmented soul.

This got me thinking about our lives. We can look healthy and so full in life in most areas; but are there areas of our life where we feel dead?

Are there areas of our life where we are producing no fruit? If this is the case then it behooves us to look for a web of deception that has attached itself to this area of our life. What lies has the enemy used to keep the truth from shining through? Until this web of deception is gone this area of your life cannot become alive again and function the way it was meant to.

Wanda wrote in The Search for Peace: A Woman's Guide to Spiritual Wholeness  " As we continue to replace the ‘negative core beliefs’ with ‘positive core beliefs’ from the Word of God, we also need to constantly monitor what is happening in us. We must look objectively at the reaction that comes out of us and other people. The way we react when something happens is a real, no fail, barometer of what is in our souls.

Sometimes we will have a ‘sleeper’ (a web) that lies silent for a while; .... we can fool ourselves in how well we are doing. Bottom line, ‘If we have a ‘problem’ with anybody or anything ‘we’ have a problem.’ Oh they may indeed have a problem, but the real problem for us is how we ‘react’ to their problem. A soul set free never reacts…only acts."

She goes on to tell a funny story...

"‘This guy heard the doorbell ring. When he went to answer it all he found was a snail sitting on the porch. He picked up the snail, hauled off and threw it as far as he could and went back inside slamming the door behind him. Three years later he heard the doorbell again and opened the door to find the same snail sitting there, the snail said to him, “So, what was ‘that’ all about?” I guess the moral of that story is no matter how long it takes to get to the bottom of a reaction…get there and find out what ‘that’ is all about."

~Gracie