KennethBow's Blog

The Tarantula Hawk Wasp

When I was very young, maybe the first or second grade my sister and I who was younger than me was sleeping on a mattress on the floor. We were very poor one particular morning as I got out of bed. A very large tarantula came out after me.

Of course I was horrified. We lived in a very small shotgun style house in Texas. The tarantula bowl they walked out of the room. We were sleeping in into the kitchen right through the kitchen toward the front door. We open the door. It walked right out the front door onto the porch and down onto the sidewalk.

It was a pretty scary thing. It was about six or 7 inches across big hairy legs. I was petrified. It looked like a monster to a six or seven-year-old boy.

A couple of men in the neighborhood came over to kill it. They brought a shovel and a broom. My memory tells me they kept hitting it and trying to kill it and it would jump. We would all jump then they would hit it again. They weren’t able to kill it by just hitting it, but they stun it and now to where it wasn’t moving and somebody said the best thing to do is burn it so they took matches and lit paper and burned him and finally got rid of him.

Quite a process of elimination, taking several grown people and probably close to 20 minutes or 25 minutes. When the same effect is achieved by a wasp that is only an inch and a half to 2 inches long.

The sting of the tarantula hawk wasp has become famous because of entomologist Justin O. Schmidt, who deliberately allowed himself to be stung by many insects to compare their pain.

When Schmidt was stung by a tarantula hawk wasp, he described it this way:

“Blinding, fierce, shockingly electric. A running hair dryer has just been dropped into your bubble bath.”

He rated it among the most painful insect stings in the world. The pain is said to be excruciating but usually lasts only about 3–5 minutes before rapidly fading.

The Sting That Stops Everything

Schmidt said that when the tarantula hawk stings you, the best thing to do is simply lie down and scream because you cannot concentrate on anything else.

Sin is like that sting.

A small compromise may seem insignificant, but when sin enters a life, it can suddenly dominate every thought, every relationship, and every decision. One moment the tarantula is walking freely; the next moment it is paralyzed by the wasp’s venom.

Likewise, many people are not destroyed by one catastrophic event. They are paralyzed by a single sting of bitterness, unforgiveness, pride, lust, or fear.

The enemy doesn’t always have to kill you.
He only has to paralyze you.

But there is a greater power than the venom of the enemy.

Paul said:

“O death, where is thy sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55, KJV)

The sting of sin brings paralysis and death, but the cross of Christ removes the sting. What Satan intended to immobilize, Jesus came to liberate.

Also….

The tarantula hawk does not sting the tarantula because it hates it. It stings it because it wants to use it for another purpose. ( Satan wants you for his purposes )

The devil often attacks people with the greatest potential.

The largest spider in the desert becomes the target.

Sometimes the intensity of the battle is evidence of the value of the prize.

A small spider may be ignored, but the giant tarantula draws the attack.

“The size of your struggle may be an indication of the size of your purpose.”

The Sting

The tarantula hawk wasp is only a fraction of the size of the tarantula it hunts. If you placed them side by side, most people would assume the spider would win every time.

But the wasp doesn’t win by strength.

It wins by knowing where to strike.

The tarantula may have more size, more legs, more power, and more intimidation, more resources…but one precise sting changes everything.

Many people feel overwhelmed because they are looking at the size of the enemy instead of the power God has placed within them.

I. The Enemy Looks Bigger Than You and he has a sting. 

The tarantula is intimidating.

• Bigger
• Stronger
• More frightening

David faced Goliath.
Moses faced Pharaoh.
Israel faced Jericho.

The devil loves to convince us that the problem is too big.

Much like the wasp stinging the tarantula, he knows exactly where and how to sting us to make us paralyzed and take us out of the race

Some people are staring at:

• Financial tarantulas
• Family tarantulas
• Health tarantulas
• Spiritual tarantulas

The enemy has stung you and is feeding off of you. 

Illustration

The tarantula hawk wasp never consults the spider about whether it can win. It simply attacks like a silent ninja.

The Enemy Has a Sting

The wasp’s greatest weapon is not its size but its sting.

Satan’s greatest weapon is not:

• Money
• Buildings
• Programs
• Popularity

His power is in his sting…

• Guilt
• Condemnation
• Discouragement
• Being offended
• These things paralyze us and make us immobile 

The devil is not afraid of your personality.

He is afraid of your prayer life.

III. One Touch Can Change Everything

The wasp doesn’t have to sting the tarantula a hundred times.

One successful strike changes the battle…just one.

One service can change a life.

One altar call can break years of addiction.

One prayer meeting can start revival.

One touch from God can accomplish what years of human effort could not.

Acts 2 happened in a single moment.

Saul became Paul in a single encounter.

The woman with the issue of blood received her miracle in a single touch.

Never underestimate what God can do in one moment.

The Giant Becomes the Testimony

After the battle, the wasp drags away the very thing that once looked unbeatable. Satan gloats.

What once looked like a threat (your potential) becomes a trophy.

God wants to defeat the stinging of Satan in your life

David carried Goliath’s sword.

Israel carried spoils from Egypt.

The three Hebrew children walked out of the fire without even the smell of smoke.

The thing that was sent to destroy you may become the testimony God uses to inspire others.

The cancer becomes the testimony.

The addiction becomes the testimony.

The financial crisis becomes the testimony.

The family struggle becomes the testimony.

Conclusion

The tarantula looked stronger.

The tarantula looked bigger.

The tarantula looked unbeatable.

But the stinging changed it all  you have to learn to deal with the sting of life

Disappointment

Rejection

Hatred

When you get stung…. Keep your faith strong keep being around good people keep coming to church. Keep your eyes on the prize.

Somebody has been measuring your problem and forgetting to measure your God.

You have stared at the size of the spider long enough.

It’s time to remember that God specializes in  conquering  great things.

You may feel insignificant.

You may feel outnumbered.

You may feel overwhelmed.

You may feel stung and immobile

But the Holy Ghost inside of you is greater than every giant, every devil, every obstacle, and every mountain that stands in your path.

“Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” (1 John 4:4)

Stop looking at the wasp.

Start trusting the anecdote.

The power of God is enough.

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