The Promise of Transformation

Hey Beloved!

Recently God has been opening my eyes to the fact that He is in everything. More specifically, nature. The immense detail of everything He’s created is insane, and it all worships Him. It all gives Him glory, honor, and praise. I’m reading a sort of poetry book right now called “You Are Only Just Beginning” by Morgan Harper Nichols and most chapters are named after lessons that we can learn from nature. She partners valuable life lessons with things like the ocean, space, clay, elephants and various other things.

Reading her book I began to ask God to open my eyes to more little lessons hidden within nature. My gaze started to linger a little longer on wildflowers and at the sunrises, just looking for His hand in it all. Why? It’s easy to receive the revelations of others as truth… but I want to receive for myself. As per usual, God surpassed all my expectations.

Recently, I’ve been re adjusting to life at home. I’ll be the first to say that it hasn’t been easy! I’ve been faced with the same habitual issues that I had before my missions trip. The same relational issues. The same attitude issues. Over the course of 9 months, I had fought to escape the fleshy person I was, and when I was traveling, it was easy to put those things behind me. But now? It’s like I’ve walked back into my room and everything that I used to be was sitting there waiting for me to slip right back into it. I’ll find myself in conflicts and I feel myself saying things or acting in a way that I wasn’t used to anymore. And in moments like that, I can easily be put into a dangerous mentality.

“I haven’t changed at all.”

“Looks like I’ve made it no where.”

“It’s been over 2 years of walking with God and still all I do is hurt people and drag them down.”

All things that I’ve said out loud to myself. It’s beyond dangerous to comply to the thinking pattern that says, “my transformation was a lie.”

Here’s where God sent me a lesson from nature that changed my walk. Before I flew home I was gifted a necklace with a butterfly on it. Speeding over the details, God spoke through the person who gifted me the necklace (whether they knew it or not). They said, “When you look at this necklace… I want you to think of how God see’s you.” My initial thoughts were, “Oooooo… butterflies! God loves me!” For those of you who don’t know, butterflies are one of my heavenly kisses. Meaning, that for as long as I remembered, God would send them my way and I was immediately reminded that God loves me and was near to me with whatever I was walking through.

However, when I had vocalized one of those death bringing thoughts, I caught a glimpse of the necklace in my mirror. At first I thought, “God still loves me.” And I was almost instantly flooded with peace. Then I asked a question, I didn’t know I needed the answer to. “God why butterflies?” Gods response to me was vivid and convicting.

Before butterflies transform, they’re caterpillars. I personally don’t think I’d every have a pet caterpillar if I didn’t know that it would turn into a butterfly. They look odd, and sometimes a little scary and they spend their time just crawling around the world, snacking on everything they can, just going about their day. Then one day they enter a cocoon and when they emerge, their physical body is changed. The way they get around, how they engage in community, they even feed themselves differently. That’s how I would define a genuine transformation. (Do you see where I’m going with this?)

When I chose to live my life for the Lord, I began to undergo transformation. I navigate the world differently, I engage in community differently, and I feed myself differently. Now has there ever been a butterfly that decided they couldn’t handle it so they changed back? No. What makes me think I can? Here’s a different perspective. How weird would it be if you saw a butterfly tear off its wings and try to look like a caterpillar? Or eat like a caterpillar? Not only would it look ridiculous, but the butterfly would die because it can’t live off of what a caterpillar needs.

Take into account WHO you credit for your transformation. God, the Author and Perfecter of my life has transformed me. Who am I to look at Him and say, “Hey I don’t think it worked. I’m acting like a caterpillar still.” My God doesn’t make mistakes.

As humans, breaking habits is hard. Nobody told me that my faith would be easy. I’ve had to learn how to fight against my old ways of life. I’ve had to come to terms with the things that my own hands have sown into existence. But I have been transformed. I know my portion. And I will fight to remind myself of it because if I don’t, I’ll just be depriving myself of what I now need to LIVE.