Last Friday I spent the entire day out at the Felege Hiywot Center where my my mother in law runs an organic garden and summer camp for children. This particular day was a special day because they were going to release the butterflies that had recently hatched from their cocoons. It is amazing to see the wonder and excitement in a child's eyes when they discover the world around them. It was no different with my son as he watched the butterflies fly around their cage.
As the instructors, children and parents circled around the back of the mission to release the butterflies I noticed that while a few of the butterflies flew right out as soon as the top was opened, a few of the butterflies stayed back for a long time. It made me think of how we can have that caged mentality when God opens the door and delivers us from a situation and we stay inside the cage not knowing what to do with their new freedom.
On the other hand, there was one butterfly that was still in the midst of coming out of it's cocoon and could not fly and some that may have been too weak to fly. We may be asking God to take the lid off of our situation but we may not be prepared to fly. For the butterfly who flew away once the cage door was opened there were three things it had to go through:
- It had to develop and mature
- It had to grow strong enough to fly
- It had to have a mentality that could handle the idea of freedom.
Now I KNOW that last one seems a bit much to assume about the mind of a butterfly. I'm no zoologist. But as I compared the behaviors it was clear that the ones who stayed behind longer took time to realize they were really FREE!
Where are you today? Are you unable to see the open door in front of you because of your caged mentality? Or are you in need of spiritual maturity and strength before you try your wings? Jesus died so that we may be free from sin and death as well as the mental bondage that sin creates. YOU ARE FREE. Ask God to develop you, mature you, and prepare you for that next open door.
