She thought that all she had were tissue paper wings,
And she could not fly, and she would not sing.
She was a lifeless creation unable to stand
For she had trusted only in the power of human hands.
Yet in her heart of hearts there raged a burning desire
To break out of the dark, out of the muck and mire.
So, she pushed and strained with all her might.
Embraced her fear and reached for that one ray of light.
But no matter the struggle, no matter the strife,
Nothing she did could give her true life.
And so, she crawled around both day and night
Searching for anything that would make her feel right.
But she could not satisfy the constant craving inside
Aroused by her needs and her own selfish pride.
She thought that hiding away was a safer choice
To escape from the fear and the condemning voice,
Which taunted her with words such as, “Why even try?
You’re made of tissue, too weak, unworthy to fly.
Anyway, you’re safer here in this cell of your making,
Because freedom is frightening, a risk not worth taking.”
But the Spirit inside her spoke to her heart,
Saying, “My work in you is finished; you’re now a true work of art.
The old you is gone; your tissue paper has withered away.
You’re no longer a worm bound in darkness, so heed what I say.
Lift the veil from your eyes and get your feet off the ground.
Throw off those grave clothes that are keeping you bound.
See that you are complete, a new creation with wings the colors of the rainbow,
Transformed by the Creator and freed to fly… So, butterfly, let go.”
Gena Baker 2018 (Her Treasures)
One of the most beautiful creatures that has always captured the hearts of women is the butterfly. How would you describe a butterfly in flight? Some of the descriptions that I have heard are…beautiful, graceful, inspiring, effortless, dependent on the wind, soars freely, dances in the sky, unencumbered, trusting, colorful, amazing, and majestic. I am sure you could think of many others. Read on and you might just glean something about yourself from a quick study on the lifecycle of the butterfly.
The first stage of development of the butterfly is the egg. We might consider this stage as being an age of innocence. Adult butterflies usually hide their eggs by gluing them on the leaves of plants where they wait for fertilization, kicking off the birth process. Unlike the butterfly whose mother leaves her eggs alone to fend for herself we can also often find ourselves weak and vulnerable to harm when we are alone and placed in new and difficult situations. But we are never alone, we are never defenseless; God constantly watches over us. He has made so many provisions to protect us when we are young. He gives us parents and other responsible people to love and care for us so that we in turn will grow into loving and responsible human beings. He gives us his precious Holy Spirit and showers us with his love, because without love we would not survive.
How would you describe the physical appearance of a caterpillar, and why would some think of this stage as the most repulsive stage of the butterfly’s development? The second stage of development of the butterfly is the larva or more commonly known as the stage when the caterpillar emerges from the egg. Caterpillars are worm like creatures that crawl around on their bellies spending most of their time just “stuffing their faces.” Because they have an insatiable appetite, they eat almost everything in sight. They are considered pests to most plants. Other insects tend to keep their distance, because caterpillars are smelly and taste terrible. An analogy can be drawn between the larva stage of the butterfly and our lives before Christ. “Before we received Christ, we spent most of our life in the ‘stinky stage,’ so to speak. We were slaves to sin; we had an insatiable need to get all our needs met in any way possible. We were slow to flee from evil. You could say that we were spiritual caterpillars, still immature, still weak, still vulnerable, desperately trying to cope with life on our own power, and still in desperate need of a Savior.” (Her Treasures)
Pam Farrell states in her book, Woman of Influence, “Jesus does not define us by our sins. When we come to him, we are made new creations. God sees us clothed in Christ’s righteousness. Jesus doesn’t manipulate us with our sin. He doesn’t hang it over our head or stab us in the back with it. He gives us a clean slate. He frees us to grow into all he designed us to be.”
I love this quote by Max Lucado from his book, Grace, “Grace is God walking into your world with a sparkle in his eye and an offer that’s hard to resist, ‘Sit still a bit. I can do wonders with this mess of yours.”
Yes, we were a mess, choosing to live like a lowly creature that crawls around on its belly, but Jesus didn’t die for you to continue to see yourself as a lowly creature. Thinking this way is an example of a false type of humility. For some reason, we have been led to believe that unless we see ourselves as “less-than” we cannot truly see God in all his glory. Nothing is further from the truth. The quote by C. S. Lewis puts this to rest for me, “True humility is not thinking less of yourself, but of thinking of yourself less.” The Bible says that you are no longer a mess but a masterpiece. (Ephesians 2:10)
Ralph Harris wrote in his book, God’s Astounding Opinion of You, “When we see our failures, struggles, and shortcomings we begin to believe we are truly a mess in need of a lot of changes. What’s wrong with that? Soon we’ll become frustrated and fixated with ourselves instead of God, and that’s tragic.”
“When we became a new creation in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17), our pasts were no longer an issue. We were cleansed of our sins and became saints. We were no longer slaves of sin but sons of God. If a butterfly insisted on believing that it was still a worm instead of accepting her new identity, that of a butterfly, she would develop an inaccurate perception of herself that could color every aspect of her life. This type of thinking is a curse mentality, a slave mentality and is based on a lie. This wormlike thinking will keep us in a perpetual state of lack and self-abasement, groveling in the dirt unable to lift our heads to allow the light of God’s Grace to wash over us. It can be that one heinous thing that keeps us trapped on the ground and prevents us from flying in the freedom of that Grace.” (Her Treasures)
At a certain point, the caterpillar will stop wandering around and will anchor itself to just the right spot where it will spin a cocoon or a chrysalis around itself. It is in this stage that the insect will undergo a complete metamorphosis. What is a good definition for the word “metamorphosis?” Webster’s defines metamorphosis as a “complete transformation of character, purpose, or circumstances…and in a biological sense, it is a developmental change from one form to another.” “When a caterpillar enters its pupa stage and forms a cocoon, strange and mysterious things begin to happen. It may appear to the human eye that there is no visible change occurring, but a great deal is happening inside. A juvenile hormone is produced, and after the caterpillar goes through its final molt or shedding, it actually digests and expels all its cells that it will not need in its adult stage. Then something miraculous happens, growth will go into hyperdrive. The cocooned insect will produce cells at an alarming rate. I can’t help but see that in this stage the butterfly finds herself again, all alone. We are much more vulnerable to the lies of the enemy when we are in isolation, but when we tap into the relationship that we have with the Holy Spirit, we realize that we are not alone. Prolonged captivity has a devastating effect on the mind. Those exposed to this are more susceptible to believing lies; they become trapped or “cocooned” in the regrets of the past and lose hope for the future.” (Her Treasures)
Jennifer Rothschild states in her book, Self Talk, Soul Talk, “As I questioned my seemingly hopeless state, I felt as if God himself reminded me that if I don’t control my thoughts, my thoughts will control me. And the only way to get any kind of handle on those thoughts is to monitor what I tell myself. My faith has led me to the Bible to find what to say to my soul. And speaking the truths I’ve found in the pages of scripture has turned my thoughts closer from a prison into an oasis of freedom. No sermons---just sensible soul talk.”
Lately, I have been reading almost everything that I could get my hands on the topic of “shame” and its effect on our overall sense of well-being. It is something that I have dealt with all of my life. It is a pandemic as far as I am concerned; so many women that I know personally have fought this awful monster. Daniel B. Lancaster says some interesting things about this monster in his book, Shame is a Liar. I would like to share a few of his observations with you. (1) “Shame makes you feel stupid and small. You feel inadequate and irrational. You feel defective and defeated. (2) Shame builds a wall between the people we love and us. It results in hopelessness, desperation, and rage. We may even spread this to others. (3) Shame distorts your self-image so you can’t see yourself accurately, and you can’t see yourself the way God sees you.” (Doesn’t this sound like the butterfly with the tissue paper wings?) Friends, you need to remember that as a believer, you are a new creation; shame no longer defines you. “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17) A metamorphosis has occurred in your life. You are not the same anymore.
“While in its cocoon, there is a continuing amount of pressure for the butterfly to break free. We on the other hand have a tendency to “cocoon” ourselves or to just settle in and accept things, no matter how uncomfortable it gets. Priscilla Shrier said, “You are right where you need to be. God is preparing you for more.” The way I see it is that no matter what’s going on in our lives, we need to trust God and never give up. Holley Gerth wrote in her book, Strong Brave Loved, “…the reality is, in the moments when we want to give up, when we feel weak and exhausted, when we think we can’t do it…we’re actually getting stronger. We’re not tired because we’re failing; we’re tired because we’re fighting. We’re not weary because we’re weak; we’re weary because we are winning the battle to get to the next level in our lives. This is the scandalous secret; when we want to quit, it really means we’re making progress.”
In every stage of life he has provided all we need as inspiration to live a happy life. When we feel neglected, he gives us love. When our sins are beating us down, he gives us forgiveness and grace. And, when we feel isolated and alone, he gives us relationship. Beloved, don’t stay in your cocoon and let all the burdens in life keep you bound. Trust him and remember who you are. What would happen if the butterfly decided to quit and just stay in its cocoon?
“I really doubt that butterflies ever consider that their wings are made of tissue or that when the time comes that they would actually choose to stay in their cocoons. God has put it in their hearts for them to fly unencumbered, dancing on the winds. At every stage of life, the butterfly has the same DNA. It is a butterfly from conception to the grave no matter how it looks to the outside world. God, in some way, has revealed to them at every stage of their lives who they really are. They never worry about whether they are complete. They just enjoy the journey and trust the Creator that he is doing a good thing. They just “Let Go.”
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Therefore, we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
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