He hideth my soul...

Robert the Bruce, a young soldier, found himself in a terrible battle during the Scottish Reformation around 1300. The enemy was soundly defeating this young man's army. He and his comrades found themselves hastily retreating from the battlefield in defeat, running away in fear of their very lives. The enemy gave chase. This young man ran hard and fast, full of fear and desperation, and soon found himself cut off from his comrades in arms.

He eventually came upon a rocky ledge containing a cave. Knowing the enemy was close behind, and that he was exhausted from the chase, he chose to hide there. After he crawled in, he fell to his face in the darkness, desperately crying to God to save him and protect him from his enemies. When he looked up from his despairing plea for help, he saw a spider beginning to weave its web at the entrance to the cave.

As he watched the delicate threads being slowly drawn across the mouth of the cave, the young soldier pondered its irony. He thought, "I asked God for protection and deliverance, and he sent me a spider instead. How can a spider save me?"

His heart was hardened, knowing the enemy would soon discover his hiding place and kill him. And soon he did hear the sound of his enemies, who were now scouring the area looking for those in hiding. One soldier with a gun slowly walked up to the cave's entrance. As the young man crouched in the darkness, hoping to surprise the enemy in a last-minute desperate attempt to save his own life, he felt his heart pounding wildly out of control.

As the enemy cautiously moved forward to enter the cave, he came upon the spider's web, which by now was completely strung across the opening. He backed away and called out to a comrade, "There can't be anyone in here. They would have had to break this spider's web to enter the cave. Let's move on."

Years later, this young man wrote about that ordeal. What he observed has stood by me in times of trouble, especially during those times when everything seemed impossible. He wrote: "Where God is, a spider's web is as a stone wall. Where God is not, a stone wall is as a spider's web."