Caterpillar to Butterfly

"Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are—face-to-face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We're free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him."
2 Corinthians 3:17-18

I feel like I have been living like a caterpillar for most of my life; inching along on the ground, seemingly not making much progress but all the while being prepared by God for a beautiful life. The time since my divorce has been my "cocoon" time. I don't know if a caterpillar experiences pain while in the cocoon, but I do know it is confined in a space, limited in what it can do. However, God is at work in the dark tomb creating a beautiful butterfly that will burst forth when the time is right. That is a perfect description of my life right now.
Since the end of my thirty-two year marriage, I have felt so alone. My apartment often feels like a cocoon. It is a place of refuge and shelter; a place for healing and changing; a place where God and I are alone and where He can transform me in His time. This transformation is painful but welcome. I do not want to stay a caterpillar trapped in an earthbound existence. I want to burst forth from my cocoon to soar on gossamer wings. I want to live the beautiful life God purposed for me before I was born.
Butterfly. The sound of this word is light and airy. Butterfly paints a picture of a vibrant creature darting from flower to flower as it gathers and scatters pollen to create more beauty. I desire to be a vibrant creature who gathers God's love until it overflows and spills onto the lives of earth-bound caterpillars creating in them the potential to emerge from their cocoon as beautiful butterflies. They touch the lives of other caterpillars.
This part of God's creation is a beautiful portrayal of His redeeming work in His children. We begin our lives as caterpillars bound to this world by our sin. The process of conviction, repentance, and acceptance of Jesus Christ as Savior begins our time in God's cocoon of restoration. He shapes and molds us through circumstances and trials until we emerge as a lovely butterfly and begin the joyful journey that will be completed one day when we enter His presence.

Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright ? 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group."

© 2008 by Ginny Holcombe. All rights reserved.