The Caterpillar

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s a kid, I was fascinated by just about anything.  On summer evenings we used to chase and catch lightening bugs in our backyard.  We collected them in a jar and watched them glow.  It always amazed me that such a little bug could produce that much light.  With the other kids in the neighborhood, I collected worms, bugs, birds’ nests, and even small toads.  There was just something exciting about catching a creature and peering at it through a glass jar.

One of the most interesting animals I collected, however, was a caterpillar.  In fact, what I found was a cocoon and my dad explained to me that inside, a caterpillar was becoming a butterfly.  Well you can imagine how excited a little seven-year-old boy can become!  I couldn’t wait for the cocoon to spring open and for the butterfly to emerge.  I was convinced that in twenty-four hours max, a butterfly would emerge and I would have something new to observe.  Days went by and still no butterfly.  I almost lost all interest in the cocoon until early one morning.

I awoke and checked the jar for any signs of progress.  I noticed that the cocoon was moving back and forth and that a small slit had appeared in one side.  Long, slender legs had emerged as well as most of the butterfly’s body.  However, it was having a difficult time pulling its wings out of the cocoon.  I wanted to help it but my mom told me to leave it alone and to watch.  The poor thing fought, kicked, pushed, pulled, and shook violently, attempting to break free from its prison.  I felt so sorry for it and wished it could just shed the cocoon and fly.  But mom said to leave it alone and after a long while, the butter fly was free.  It was absolutely gorgeous and I took it outside and released it.

I have often thought about the process of becoming a butterfly and how it applies to our daily lives. All around us we see people involved in different types of struggle.  Some struggles are physical, some are emotional, some are mental, some affect our livelihoods, and others affect our relationships.   Everywhere we look, it seems there is some sort of struggle or challenge to face.  As Christians, we are sometimes at a loss to explain why God allows things to happen to us or to others.  Why do people get sick?  Why do people die at an early age?  Does God really care what happens to us?  Why does he allow disease, death, and impossible circumstances to enter our lives?

These are all good questions and ones that have no satisfactory answers.  However, I do believe God does offer some explanation in his word to comfort us in the difficult things of life.  In Isaiah 48:10 we find a wonderful nugget to enhance our understanding of the way God works in our daily lives.  The prophet writes, “See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.”  

There are three important words here.  The first word is refined.  The purpose of our testing is our perfection.  God will remove anything that prevents us from being conformed to the image of Christ.  The second word is tested.  When we are tested, it is always for the purpose of growing our faith and teaching us to lean more heavily on God.  The more difficult the test, the more we need our Heavenly Father.  Remember, the test is passable.  God promised not to place on our shoulders more than we could bear so we know that God trusts us with it!!  The third word is in. Precious metals cannot be refined outside the furnace.  They must go inside and be subjected to the searing heat.  Caterpillars cannot become butterflies outside the cocoon.  They must go into the darkness and fight their way out in order to become one of nature’s most beautiful creatures.

And what about us?  We are far more precious to God than gold or silver.  We are more beautiful to him than any butterfly.  His goal for us “in the furnace of affliction” is to conform us to his image.  I do believe in God’s power to heal.  I know people who have received healing from God and the Scriptures teach that God heals “all our diseases” (Psalm 103).  But the body is temporary and the soul is eternal.  God is more interested in perfecting our souls than he is in perfecting our bodies.  If trials and tribulations, if disease and difficult circumstances provide the heat necessary to refine our souls, then God will turn up that heat.  He created the body to house our souls, but his first love and his main objective is the soul of man.

Whatever you are facing today, I pray you will take courage and strength from it.  God is near you and he understands your circumstances.  He is in the process of perfecting you, of refining you, of growing your faith.  Like the caterpillar in that jar, God knows that struggle is necessary. Without it, we would never develop into what we were meant to be.  God loves you today, from the inside out; but the inside is what it’s all about.  May God’s best be yours today!