With the arrival of fall, nature speaks to beauty that can be found in change. As the leaves let go of their crisp green hue to transform to a canvas of colors, the essence of change is upon us.
Today while enjoying the early fall breeze, I watched as a butterfly delighted in the flowers in bloom. I admired the delicate creature of mighty transformation - once a caterpillar bound to seeing the perspective of life from below, but now a beautiful butterfly to explore nature through the winds of the skies.
I witnessed a simple, yet profound lesson from the whimsical creature and powerful reminder of seasons in our own lives.
Sometimes change finds us and yet other times we walk confidently toward a needed change.
Maybe you’ve found yourself in a place of change that was a result of someone else’s choices or unpredictable circumstances. A marriage that had to end because of heartbreaking choices of another, an unexpected illness that gripped you with fear, or the dwindling of a dream because plans failed. These moments of transformative change can usher in feelings of fear of the great unknown ahead.
Sometimes, though, change is just what you need.
It is through change that God can and does bring His good purposes to our lives. The butterfly shows us that in the time of transformative change we have to move away from the cadence of the normal routine to the great unknown.
Within the butterfly’s chrysalis, a magnificent transformative change takes place; but to the watching eye, all we see is stagnant stillness. The old body of the caterpillar dies and becomes a butterfly with mighty wings all the while being sheltered by the chrysalis as it finds solace under branches and leaves.
It is within the stillness away from the outside world that a necessary change will take the old, cumbersome caterpillar to a weightless, boundless butterfly.
A new life filled with possibilities can emerge from the solace of change. We know that it was through the darkness of the tomb, in the echo of silence, that Jesus defeated death and the grip of the world’s sin and He emerged victorious with life and hope for eternity.
Through Jesus’ purpose of redemptive transformation from His life here on earth, death on the cross, and resurrection from the grave, we have been given the chance to be transformed from useless, sinful souls to purposeful beings of grace and love.
The time is now, sweet friend, to make a change for what can be better for your life.
Leave those old habits.
Pursue that hobby.
Be present with those you love.
Tell that one how you feel - it could be serendipity at its finest.
Grow richly in your relationship with God in times away from the rush of the world in reflective solitude … eternity is closer than we know.
Look at the butterfly - it wasn’t meant to be a caterpillar forever. The graceful and gentle flight of a butterfly - almost weightless it seems - is such a contrast to its once cumbersome stride as a caterpillar.
Change can make your life truly beautiful and take you to places you’ve never imagined could be possible toward a boundless future - just like the breathtaking butterfly. Embrace the unknown - the endless horizon of possibilities that God has planned just for you eagerly awaits.~
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