Last week I watched a friend clear out spider egg sacks from an abandoned sandbox as we watched two giant black widow spiders walk around. The egg sacks that she gathered and discarded were huge. I had only ever seen small ones but these were the size of a marble.
Exactly a week later, early in the morning around 5am, I ended up having a dream. I dreamed about a giant spider that talked to me. I ended up killing the spider but then had to deal with all of the marble-sized egg sacks. There were about 30 of them that fell everywhere the way marbles would if you dropped them. I remember looking everywhere to find these sticky sacks, looking under chair legs and other furniture, knowing that if I missed even just one that the whole process would just start over or get even worse. For, each egg sack was filled with who knows how many eggs, so even missing one would be devastating. However, right before I woke up, I remember crushing the last egg sack.
I didn’t think much about this dream after I woke up except that I remembered it, for I often do not remember my dreams. However, after getting my morning coffee, I began to scroll through social media and came across a man praying something that sparked my attention. He prayed for “a banishment of every demonic spider, everything that would crawl in the crevices.” I knew at that moment, in my spirit, that my dream had been from the Lord. Shortly after that, a conversation with my husband didn’t go very well and a series of events unfolded that led him to leave for work frustrated, appearing to have little hope for his current work situation. With that, I knew for certain that I had had a prophetic dream and that those “demonic spiders” were on the loose within our life and our home.
As you can imagine, I then began to pray passionately for my husband all day, hearing as I did, “I’ve got this.” At one point, after ending up with my daughter’s toy sword that she brought me while I was praying, I even went around my house using it, envisioning myself slaying the spiders with my prayers.
Later in the day I ended up having a conversation with a friend that also didn’t end very well. This of course made my spirit sink even further and made my prayer list even longer. As I began to pray for my friend as well and our relationship, I heard “I’ll take care of it.”
When referencing this friend later in the day, my spirit perked up when I heard myself say where she was from, for her city includes the word “Web.” What then came to my mind was a phrase I hadn’t thought about in a long time. God used to refer to Satan’s schemes to me as a “web of lies,” and a big part of his web of lies is his goal to disrupt and damage relationships.
I then went to pick up my daughter and my niece from a class, and after having to reroute myself due to closed streets, literally feeling like I was trying to find my way out of a web, I got even more frustrated when we were almost hit yet again by someone not paying attention. It had already happened to us earlier in the day. I have often referred to days like the one I was having, especially in my prayers, as “black dot days. These are the days when you need a redo and definitely need God’s redeeming moments. With that said, at this point, while getting on the highway, I said to God, “I guess this is a ‘black dot day,’” and before I was even done speaking, I looked up and saw a truck in front of me with a giant dark circle on it with the word “DOT” inside. God has a sense of humor, but sadly, at the same time, He was also confirming my thought. It was indeed a black dot day, a day when Satan and his demonic spiders were on the loose in my life and within the lives of those I love.
After then having a good conversation later with my mother-in-law, I quickly ran to the store. When I got back into my car, I noticed a really beautiful ray of sunshine streaming out of the clouds above me. What came to my mind and out of my mouth was “There’s always a ray of hope.” Instantly, my ears then tuned into the lyrics to the song that was playing on the radio and they were so perfect for that moment that I knew God was speaking. The song said:
Open your eyes to the signs all around you
Hope is alive and it’s living inside you
All creation testifies it
The more you seek, the more you’ll find it
(“Fingerprints” by Dan Bremnes)
We must never forget that our God is a God of hope. He says to all of us and to any situation that we may be facing, “I’ve got this. I’ll take care of it.” For, He is a God that redeems, that always offers redeeming moments. He knows we will sometimes have black dot days or even black dot seasons because of Satan’s web of lies and because of his army of demons that infiltrate our lives and relationships, but we must remember that our God is greater and that our God uses everything. He even uses what Satan does for His plans and purpose, for our good and His glory. With our God there is always hope.
The following day something else came to my mind, another vision I once had as a child. This one was so real that for the longest time I thought this incident really happened. When I was younger, I attended a Christian camp. In my vision, when I arrived and got out of the car, I decided to take off my shoes and run through the grass. This camp was in the country and this already points to the fact that it was a vision because even back then there was no way I would have taken off my shoes and run barefoot through that particular grass. All of a sudden, something stopped me and I stood there with one foot on the ground and one foot elevated in mid-air. I remember thinking that God was protecting me because my foot was about to come down on a giant spider that looked like a tarantula. I was about to crash this big spider under my heel.
Although a vision then; a true reality today. For, the same power that raised Christ from the dead, that crushed Satan under His feet (Genesis 3:15), lives in us. As Romans 16:20 says, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” That is hope. That is freedom. That is victory. And that is God saying truly “I’ve got this.” God will be the One doing the crushing but He will use us. He will use our feet. He chooses to use us, to send us because we are His army. And war is hard. God never promised life would be easy. In fact, He promised we would have trouble (John 16:33). But what He also promised us is peace in the battle and victory in the end. Here is something God recently said to my husband. I am inspired to share these words with you as well for these words are also for you:
Prayers have been heard. Tears have been seen, and I have no intention of leaving you in this place of despair. Though it is hard and a desert season, remember what great joy always follows the desert for My children. The same will be true for you. Believe and then seek Me in this place. I have a reason for this season, and many lessons to teach you. Believe.
God has heard your prayers and has seen your tears, and like God said, remember that the desert is useful. It is where a true army is made. And at the end of it, the promised land awaits. So, onward Christian soldiers. Raise your banners of hope high and never stop believing that God has a reason for this season. He’s GOT THIS! He’s got you! Amen and amen.