"If nothing ever changed, there would be no butterflies." Author Unknown
I was mesmerized by a butterfly recently. It fluttered into my vision unannounced and changed the mundane moment into the miraculous. It stayed for only a few shallow breaths but made an impact that will reside in me for a long time to come. Her beauty was incredible, and words don't suffice. With wings of bright-poppy color and pattern-laced with fingerprints of the Divine, her gentle strides barely kissed the air, and I was reminded yet again of the Creator's gorgeous extravagance of design while I shared a wink of time with one of His many masterpieces.
The butterfly begins of course as a caterpillar, which is a glorified worm really, a grub. This lowly creature eventually attaches itself to a branch or stem and sheds its' outer layer to become a chrysalis. This is the place where a basic, ground-crawling bug becomes a brilliant butterfly. This exotic transformation is truly remarkable and symbolic of what welcoming and waiting on deep change can do for us all: Expose our true colors and give us wings to fly. Seemingly, the impossible has happened as we transform into who we were designed to be all along: Magnificent creations of a Masterful God.
God is the ultimate change-agent: He changes the seasons, the weather, the plans of mankind, and our very own hearts and minds and futures if we allow Him. Sometimes life can lower us to a place we were never meant to be - scraping the dusty, bottom layer. Yet, our Creator beckons us to come, to cling and dwell to the Vine of true life and shed the old casing that can often hold us hostage, even to forget it for our own good, so that He can transform us also:
"The Lord says, “Forget what happened before,
and do not think about the past.
Look at the new thing I am going to do.
It is already happening. Don’t you see it?
I will make a road in the desert
and rivers in the dry land." (Isaiah 43:18-19)
This is God's specialty! He places the willing ones into the cocoon of His wide-open, awaiting hands, shaping and guiding until the beauty of His plans for each of us is unfurled. This is where true change happens - in the chrysalis of Christ's amazing Grace.
Are you ready for a change? Change can be hard, but staying stuck and away from your true purpose and life-journey is much worse. We can all learn a beautiful and sacred lesson from the butterfly: Let go of the past and lift up your wings as a joy offering to God for the new thing He is already doing as we abide in Him - can you see it?
Good! It's time to fly...
Lord, I pray for anyone reading this that feels unworthy, lowly, or out of bounds from Your grace that they come and place their lives into Your gentle and loving hands so You can bring out their true colors and help them enter the freedom You offer through faith. Help them to understand that change, when done in Your loves' embrace, is a very good thing. Amen.