The costly nature of Christ.
To lose is to gain.
To gain is to lose.
This week I’m thinking about helping and outcomes. I hope you enjoy the fable I wrote for you and the three quotes afterward.
ONE FABLE
The Girl, The Spider and The Wasp
A curious young girl sat in a comfy chair on her back porch admiring the storm clouds rolling in and the shadows cast on the ground. She opened her drawing pad, hoping to get a sketch done before the rain came. A brilliant black and yellow spider climbed from the bottom of the porch rail, crossed over and back down again, weaving threads into a pattern. A red wasp lurked behind a potted basket above the girl’s head.
Without warning, the wasp flew past the girl’s ear. She dodged and dropped her pencil. As she leaned over to pick it up, she saw the wasp soaring toward the spider’s web like a kamikaze pilot. Its body curved. Thrusting its stinger out as it landed.
The spider scurried to the edge of its web.
The girl wasn’t as cautious. She felt sorry for the helpless creature tangled in the spider’s web.
“I’m stuck,” a crackly voice cried out.
Putting down her drawing pad and pencil, the girl left the comfort of her chair for a closer look.
“Help me.”
The girl took a step backward, remembering her trip to the hospital after a bee stung her on the arm.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Wasp, but I better not get too close,” she said as she eased the back door open. “I’ll go inside and find someone to help you.”
“Do you actually think someone other than you, who has such a warm heart would take the time to free me? You can keep your distance. Use that long stick just underneath me to break the web wrapped around my foot.”
Her heart thumped against her chest as she considered the consequences.
“Just think how good you’ll feel after helping me get free.”
Her lips curled into a smile when she imagined how the wasp would feel if she saved it from the spider’s lair.
She shut the back door and turned toward the wasp.
Lightning struck off in the distance. Raindrops soiled her drawing pad. She hurried toward the stick and picked it up.
The wasp wiggled violently.
The spider scurried off her web and hid behind the porch rail.
“She’s moved away. Be still, so I can set you free.”
Keeping as much distance between herself and the wasp, the girl eased the stick toward the web. Just before the tip wrapped around the first thread, the wasp broke free and whizzed past her ear.
The girl lost her balance and fell to one knee. “That was rude,” she said ignoring where the wasp had gone.
Thunder cracked behind her. “I guess you didn’t need my help after all.”
The spider skulked out of hiding. “Of course he didn’t need your help. He was here for me.”
“I know. And that’s why I wanted to save him.”
“A practiced deceiver, he is.”
The girl’s cheeks grew pink as stood up and brushed off her knee.
“I thought I was helping.”
“Ah, but help you did. If you hadn’t come along when you did, I would have been his next meal.”
Another crack of thunder and the rain fell harder.
“You better get inside. A spider is never safe when a wasp is on the hunt. Nor is anyone who gets in his way.”
The spider quickly sewed new threads to repair her damaged web. “Today, a trap was set for sure, but not for me, I think.” warned the spider as she settled into her web to wait out the storm.
Bewildered by the spider’s last words, the girl leaned down to pick up her soaking wet drawing pad and pencil. A solid punch hit her on the shoulder. “OUCH!”
She looked back and saw the wasp speeding away.
It was difficult to breathe. Her tongue felt thick.
Lunging for the back door, she slipped and fell. The side of her face landing hard on the wooden deck.
The wasp circled back and settled himself beside the girl’s face
She looked at the wasp through soaking wet hair draped over half her face. “Why did you do that?”
“Because I’m a wasp. It’s my nature to sting.”
Unable to keep her eyes open, a faint whisper escaped her lips. “And it is my nature to help.”
*Help where we can, because it’s impossible to know where God will shine His glory.*
THREE QUOTES
A good character is the best tombstone. Those who loved you and were helped by you will remember you when forget-me-nots have withered. Carve your name on hearts, not on marble.
– Charles Spurgeon
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What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.
– Augustine
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The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: “If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?” But the good Samaritan reversed the question: “If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?”
– Martin Luther King Jr.
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