Once upon a true time a man found a stick with a coccoon attached to it. Out of curiosity he took it home & waited for it to open. One day it did & he watched in amazement as the coccoon opened & a beautiful monarch began to emerge. In his mind he had imagined the the butterfly would make a sudden grand entry into the world, but as he watched he saw the butterfly fight to free itself from the confines of it's coccoon. After some time he took pity on the butterfly & gently broke the coccoon open to free it. Soon after the butterfly died. It was simply not strong enough to survive because it had not finished the fight with the coccoon designed to bring it the strength it needed to fly.
I have always been fascinated by butterflies... I know that's probably a girl thing, but I am far more interested in their lives... their example of what life is- a metamorphis- than their general prettiness. How do those tiny hairy, crawling pests turn into a flying flowers? Why would God see fit to make that transformation a part of the beauty that daily surrounds us?
I believe it is because we are spiritual butterflies. Some of you may be thinking "I know where this is going... When you were a sinner you were a catepillar- you became a Christian & badda boom badda bang- instant butterfly." For those of you that think that way I urge you to go back to the top of this blog & reread my story- no such thing as insta-butterflies folks. I counter with as sinners we were larva & when we took the first step into faith we became caterpillars. Some people believe that the instant you become a Christian you make the transformation that is spoken of in 2 Cor 5:17. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" I, however, believe that becoming a new creation is a journey that all Christians take.
There is your caterpillar stage where everything is new & fresh... You freely eat up the knowledge of the Bible & explore the world around you from the ground content in your own fuzzy little newness... & i am sorry to say that some Christians stay caterpillars forever, never embracing the dream that they could be more... Many will sadly die or burn out before they reach their potential.
For some Christians there will come a day when they do feel called for more & they will find a place to coccoon themselves in God. To seek His will & purpose in their lives & to quietly allow the change to take place... God begins to shape them into what they need to be to make the world beautiful. You have no choice what kind of butterfly you will be... A monarch... A painted lady... Or maybe you'll simply emerge as a plain brown moth, but whatever you are will be exactly who you were meant to be.
The hard part is the struggle that you must go through to emerge from the coccoon. Most Christians may choose to stay in their coccoons for the duration of their lives wrapped in the goodness of God, but for a select few the struggle is worth it. For each person the struggle is different, but there is a moment in their lives when that thing will happen that cracks the cocoon. We break out of our protective cover & the world comes pouring in... We hear it saying "you can't do it- don't even try" but we push just a little & the more we emerge the scarier it seems... The dreams of flying that we had in our safe little cocoons seem so much smaller & unacheivable & we cry out to God to break open our coccoons & free us, but he knows that the struggle makes us stronger so he whispers "I'm here- keep pushing- you can do this..." so we push a little further... & little by little, piece by piece we emerge stronger, better, beautiful.. We take a minute to spread our wings & then leap into the unknown trusting that those wings will carry us & we look at the world from our new perspective so different up here than on the ground & we think "with God all things are possible." with that knowledge we can change the world...make it a more beautiful place... Just you wait & see.
I have always been fascinated by butterflies... I know that's probably a girl thing, but I am far more interested in their lives... their example of what life is- a metamorphis- than their general prettiness. How do those tiny hairy, crawling pests turn into a flying flowers? Why would God see fit to make that transformation a part of the beauty that daily surrounds us?
I believe it is because we are spiritual butterflies. Some of you may be thinking "I know where this is going... When you were a sinner you were a catepillar- you became a Christian & badda boom badda bang- instant butterfly." For those of you that think that way I urge you to go back to the top of this blog & reread my story- no such thing as insta-butterflies folks. I counter with as sinners we were larva & when we took the first step into faith we became caterpillars. Some people believe that the instant you become a Christian you make the transformation that is spoken of in 2 Cor 5:17. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" I, however, believe that becoming a new creation is a journey that all Christians take.
There is your caterpillar stage where everything is new & fresh... You freely eat up the knowledge of the Bible & explore the world around you from the ground content in your own fuzzy little newness... & i am sorry to say that some Christians stay caterpillars forever, never embracing the dream that they could be more... Many will sadly die or burn out before they reach their potential.
For some Christians there will come a day when they do feel called for more & they will find a place to coccoon themselves in God. To seek His will & purpose in their lives & to quietly allow the change to take place... God begins to shape them into what they need to be to make the world beautiful. You have no choice what kind of butterfly you will be... A monarch... A painted lady... Or maybe you'll simply emerge as a plain brown moth, but whatever you are will be exactly who you were meant to be.
The hard part is the struggle that you must go through to emerge from the coccoon. Most Christians may choose to stay in their coccoons for the duration of their lives wrapped in the goodness of God, but for a select few the struggle is worth it. For each person the struggle is different, but there is a moment in their lives when that thing will happen that cracks the cocoon. We break out of our protective cover & the world comes pouring in... We hear it saying "you can't do it- don't even try" but we push just a little & the more we emerge the scarier it seems... The dreams of flying that we had in our safe little cocoons seem so much smaller & unacheivable & we cry out to God to break open our coccoons & free us, but he knows that the struggle makes us stronger so he whispers "I'm here- keep pushing- you can do this..." so we push a little further... & little by little, piece by piece we emerge stronger, better, beautiful.. We take a minute to spread our wings & then leap into the unknown trusting that those wings will carry us & we look at the world from our new perspective so different up here than on the ground & we think "with God all things are possible." with that knowledge we can change the world...make it a more beautiful place... Just you wait & see.
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