Tuesday, August 8th, 2023
This is blog number one in what will hopefully be a long line of brief devotionals that God is putting on my heart. God is speaking lots lately about His beautiful creation and highlighting scriptures on all sorts of topics. These are meant to encourage all of us to persevere in our faith, stand when the enemy tries to derail our journey and marvel at the goodness and power of our God.
As I write today’s blog I find it deeply fitting that just last week a swallowtail caterpillar showed up on a parsley plant on my back porch (see picture below). I know, that doesn’t sound like the most spiritual topic but stay with me and let’s see if we can put all the puzzle pieces together.
My children and I have been reading quite a bit about butterflies lately. There really is an amazing list of changes that come about in a relatively quick time frame. Today, I will focus on the changes we have observed after we brought that caterpillar inside and gave it a safe place to continue its journey. For the first day, it happily munched on the parsley we gave it. Little did we know that we discovered this caterpillar at just the right time. By the next day, it did not eat anything and was already getting into position for the next leg of its journey. They call this the “J” position as only its head and the last set of legs are connected to the stick and the rest loops out and forms a “J” (see picture below; it’s not my best picture but you get the idea).
Over the next night, the caterpillar was busy building its chrysalis and drastically changing its appearance. It went from a black and green caterpillar to a more camouflaged brown and dark green neatly wrapped package. While I did not observe this process, from my understanding of it, they attach themselves to the stick with a single thread and then wriggle out of their skin for the last time revealing their chrysalis (see picture below; if you look close enough you can find the single thread just over halfway up the chrysalis).
This is the point where my spirit came alive. How incredible is our God? This is one tiny butterfly in a long family of butterflies in a long line of insects in an unfathomable line of creatures that He made in a matter of two days. They are all incredibly unique each with their own creative ways of growing, eating, surviving and existing. The scripture that immediately came to my mind was Matt 6:26-27:
26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
Not only does God provide everything these creatures need He does it so creatively and beautifully. Sometimes we get so consumed by the lies of the enemy we forget the pure, undefiled beauty and creativity of our Maker. I have seen a monarch chrysalis before and there are actually gold dots that adorn it (see stock photo below). I mean…GOLD DOTS!
I am sure there are a few different hypotheses for this, but I believe it’s simply because Ecclesiastes 3:11 says:
11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.
If He can so eloquently clothe the swallowtails and the monarchs as they change within their chrysalis’ can’t and won’t He even more so for us as we go from glory to glory? 2 Cor 3:18 says:
18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Final Thoughts…
Most butterflies (from egg to caterpillar to butterfly) are only alive for a couple of months. We are alive for more like 1,000 months. If He can give them all they need for all their brief changes, He will most certainly do it for us. Don’t let the enemy tell you that you are not worthy or that God won’t take care of you. Everything in creation tells us the exact opposite. We all have a purpose, we are all wonderfully made and God will give us all we need to do all that He has called us to do. Whether you are just beginning your journey, happily eating it all in or in a season of great change rest confidently in the hands of the One who made it all and overcame it all.