The God of it All - Clearly Butterflies

A Closer Look ....

The first spring we lived in Brazoria I was surprised to find about a dozen monarch caterpillars -- and about a dozen chrysalises-- out in our garden. I was disturbed because several of the little chrysalises were on very unstable surfaces, like the leaves of a petunia plant! I rescued 6 of them and put them in our carport, tucked safely in a box and secured the fragile leaves to a strong twig.

I also put in the box a couple of the caterpillars -- so I could watch them. I haven't seen this great demonstration of God's Power and Glory since I was in elementary school in Mr. Horton's class.

It was breathtaking -- I watched one of the caterpillars hang upside down, forming a letter "J."
The next day I found him shivering and twisting around, splitting the skin, and then all his yellow and black seemed to dissolve into a smooth greenish sheath. It looked soft and "mushy."

(I read somewhere that this is the stage often called the pupa stage because it is similar to the way an infant is wrapped in swaddling clothes -- and pupa is Latin for "doll.")

There he hung for 10-12 days. The chrysalis hardened into a beautiful jade-green case that reminded me of an elf's magic emerald lantern.

Transparency...

Then the case became transparent and I could see the orange and black wings taking shape inside. I could everything happening -- right before my eyes! I almost forgot what it looked like before -- I was seeing what it was becoming!

There were so many miracles happening at once: God silently transforming the caterpillar into a butterfly inside that little protective case --the case becoming transparent so I could observe it -- and the miracle of me, with physical eyes -- being able to witness it! And with a voice that could proclaim praises to the God of it All..

When the butterflies began to emerge they seem crumpled, damp and weak, probably completely exhausted by the struggle to get out of the tiny cage and take flight. After a few moments their wings appeared to be dry and in their proper shape; they had the strength needed to pursue their lives and they begin to fly away to their own adventures.

Some Assembly Required....

I have read that before the butterfly can fly off, its feeding tube, or proboscis, must be actually assembled. This is a hollow tube the butterfly needs to suck nectar, and when the butterfly first hatches, the two parts forming the proboscis are not yet interlocked, and so he must join those pieces together himself before he can fly off! What a marvel!

There were so many symbols there in front of me. The image of our own death and resurrection.
And how God creates a lowly, but colorful caterpillar, and then transforms it into something even more beautiful.

And also, about the chrysalis becoming transparent. I had never thought about it before -- but isn't that what happens to us....when we first come to Jesus He wraps us in a cocoon of safety and begins changing us into His image.

Then one day, as He is forming His image in us, we become transparent, and those around us don't just see us -- they begin to see the new creature we are becoming -- they begin to see Jesus in us -- and then one day He calls us up and away on His wings of love and we are changed permanently and completely.

I think it's the transparency that teaches me the most now that I am older. When Tyndale translated the New Testament in the 1530's, he used the word "clarify" in John 17, instead of "glorify". I love that idea. We can't truly "glorify" God until we are so transparent that others see God forming His Son in us.

I am told that the word "metamorphosis" is the same word used to describe the "Transfiguration of Jesus" on the mountain when He was with Peter, James and John. And that in Romans 12:2 when we are told to "not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds," that "transform", is the Greek word metamorphosis.

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
                 2 Corinthians 3:18 NIV

And all of us have had that veil removed so that we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like Him and reflect His glory even more.
                  2 Corinthians 3:18 NLV

Can others see it happening in us?