Maryland in August

Shauna: This is Shauna on Joni Eareckson Tada Sharing Hope. Even though we live in California, Joni's heart resides in Maryland.
Joni Eareckson Tada: As summer winds down, I'm reflecting on so many late August memories back in Maryland. Times when our family would take our final camping trip down to the beach. Months earlier, back in late May or early June, we would always make our first trip to the shore by putting up our big surplus tent down at Key Box camp right on the barrier island on the Atlantic. Our campsite was just over the Maryland line and wedged up against the large rolling sand dunes of Delaware. That tent, which could sleep me, my sisters, and all our cousins, stayed up all summer long. During the day we'd play on the beach, collect shells, and go crabbing over on the opposite side of the barrier island. Trapping Chesapeake Bay blue crabs was always a tricky business. In the shallow water, we'd put out a box that was webbed with netting. In it, we'd place bits of fish or chicken as bait for the crabs. While we sat back and picnicked on the shore, we'd wait for crabs to climb into our nets. All us kids would get so excited when we'd spot a couple of crabs. Then came the time to pluck those ill-tempered critters out of the netting. Like I said, it's very tricky because, after all, they're crabs. They have claws and that means they pinch. When you're an eight-year-old kid trying to delicately pluck a crab all tangled in a net, you have to be careful. Crabs do not like to be handled. They have quick tempers and will think nothing of biting your fingers. That is painful, which as a kid I always thought was unfair because most of those crabs were too small. We couldn't eat them anyway; they would have to be thrown back in the water. Still, they'd pinch. Didn't they know I was rescuing them? It's a funny picture. That picture came to mind recently when I stumbled across Psalm 25, verse 15. I'm serious. I read this verse and I thought, "Oh my goodness, that's me crabbing." It says this: "Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord, for He shall pluck my feet out of the net." I had to smile when I read those words about plucking out of the net because I could easily see myself as a crab, very ill-tempered. When I get into trouble and choose a wrong path, I get tangled in a net. When God tries to pluck me out of my entanglement, I'm like a crab. My pride doesn't like it. "Don't bother me. Leave me alone. I can't be troubled now." Other times when I realize my wrongdoing, I try very hard to untangle myself to cut myself free of a web of deceit, but I only get further into trouble. Friend, your adversary is very good at setting traps, at setting snares, and weaving webs. The net that he weaves is woven of soft-spun deceits and threads of sin and doubt, pain, or weakness. Today, if you find yourself stuck in a net, do not allow pride to rule the situation. Do not resist the Holy Spirit when He convicts, or reproves, or corrects. It's His way of plucking your feet from the net because no one can do it himself. Let me repeat Psalm 25:15 one more time: "Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord, for He shall pluck my feet out of the net." Are you entangled in a deceitful snare? Have you gotten yourself foolishly into a trap? Focus your eyes on the Lord, for only He will release your feet from that snare. We want to hear from you today at joniradio.org if you need prayer support and need to get disentangled from some sin. Please share your story with us at joniradio.org.