Stop Cleaning Cobwebs: Beyond Quick Fixes to Real Freedomნიმუში

To stop cleaning the cobwebs in our lives, we need to know the difference between spiders and cobwebs. Here’s the framework Carlos taught me:

A spider is an agreement we have made with a lie. When you encounter a lie about God or about yourself and you begin to agree with it, believe it, and make decisions based on it—that's when a spider is born.

A cobweb is a medicating behavior that brings false comfort to that lie. When you've made an agreement with a lie, it creates tension, pain, and discomfort. You reach for something to make you feel better about the pain that lie is causing. That "something" becomes your cobweb.

This isn't just a creative metaphor—it's rooted in Scripture. In Genesis 3, we see the very first spider being born. The serpent approached Eve and said, "Did God actually say you shall not eat of any tree in the garden?" (Genesis 3:1 NIV)

Eve responded correctly at first, explaining what God had actually said. But then the serpent came back with the lie: "You will not surely die." That's where the spider was born. Eve succumbed to the lie that God wasn't trustworthy and that she couldn't follow what He said.

Here's what you need to understand: Encountering a lie is temptation. Agreeing with the lie is sin.

Every day, you encounter lies about who you are and who God is. That's not sin—that's just being alive! But agreeing with those lies, embracing them, and building your worldview based on them gives birth to sin and spiders. John 8:44 and Revelation 12:10-11 tell us that our enemy, Satan, tells those lies to keep us stuck!

If you've ever been through trauma, suffering, or betrayal, you know that those seasons become nesting grounds for spiders. When we're in pain, we become vulnerable to lies about God and ourselves in ways we don't even realize.

Many of our deepest spiders were born in the most difficult seasons of our lives because we were vulnerable and desperate to make sense of what was happening to us.

Once a spider is born, cobwebs follow. When you feel the pain and tension of believing a lie, you naturally reach for something to numb that discomfort.

The problem isn't necessarily what you're reaching for—it's that you're treating symptoms instead of the disease. You're cleaning cobwebs instead of killing spiders.

Many of us have pretty common cobweb reactions when we encounter problems in our lives:

First, we ignore or avoid it. We think, "If I don't think about it, it'll magically go away." We're not doing anything to fix it, but somehow we hope it'll disappear.

Second, we go into panic cleaning mode. When someone else notices our problem, we're suddenly motivated to clean up what we've ignored for months or years.

Third, we try the self-improvement route. We tell ourselves we need more discipline, better systems, or stronger willpower. We work harder to manage and control the issue.

Carlos taught me a life-changing principle: Freedom doesn't come from striving. Freedom comes from surrender.

If you've been struggling with something for years and haven't found freedom, maybe it's because you've been trying to break free in your own power and strength. Freedom is found in wholehearted surrender to God's power, not your power.

Tomorrow, we'll look at five crucial truths about cobwebs that can help you identify the hidden source of your cobwebs.