“There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise: the ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer; the conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks; the locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands; the spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings’ palaces” (Proverbs 30:24–28).

We humans decide what is beautiful or ugly according to what we are used to seeing—according to our culture, our education, and so forth. For instance, there are animals that nearly everyone likes—puppies, kittens, bunny rabbits. But some animals we deem ugly or strange. What do we think about warthogs, bugs, star-nosed moles, or spiders? Well, today I will explain how one of these less favored animals—a tiny spider—saved my life.

I remember reading about spiders in John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress many years ago. At one point in Christiana’s journey, the Interpreter was teaching the pilgrims lessons they would have to remember in order to succeed in their journey. The Interpreter took the pilgrims to an empty room. There seemed to be nothing in it, until suddenly one of the women in the company saw the ugly spiders covering the walls. Then, she began to cry because she understood the lesson. Those ugly spiders on the walls of the empty room represented them without God’s love in them.

Spiders are an excellent example for true followers of Christ. The spider has an instinct to build a house for itself: a web made of one of the most amazing and resistant materials ever studied by scientists. Not only that—it also has many options to adhere to. It likes high places and takes every opportunity it has to build indoors.

A few years ago I experienced an unhappy season in my life. I was accused of allowing a patient to die in a hospital where I was working, but I had never seen him in my life. I was eventually found innocent, but the wrongful accusation still left me shaken. Then, a director of a company promised me a job because I had saved his life in the hospital, but he never fulfilled his word. At a time in my life when all I wanted was to be respected, and to love and be loved, I was taking plenty of hits. I became depressed. I would cry out to God and ask Him where He was. Like the psalmist, I wondered where God is when the evil prosper, and why when I do the best I can, I am judged like this? One day when I was crying and praying, I opened my eyes, and I saw a very little spider descending in front of my nose over the desk where I was. In that moment I remembered what I learned from those little critters, and I made a resolution: no matter how many times people push me down and try to destroy me without reason, I will build a better web, a better dream and find a higher place.

We are like spiders. We have dreams, and we don’t like to settle for just any corner; we like to go high and be loved by others and have our work appreciated. When we see any opportunity for a better life, we prefer to take it, like the spider in the palace of the king. Yet, we think spiders are ugly, and we kill them or destroy their homes. If its web is destroyed, however, what does the spider do? It weaves another one—and now this web is even better because it has more experience. Destroy a web as many times as you want, and the spider will always rebuild. When others push us down, let’s be like spiders and start again.