A while back I saw an interesting quote on Instagram. The quote read, “What the caterpillar calls the tomb, the butterfly calls the womb.” That quote has been stuck in my head every since. As children in school, we all were taught about the caterpillar and the butterfly. We learned about how a sluggish crawling creature magically transforms into this beautiful creation. After seeing the quote, I began my own little investigation on the process of the how caterpillar becomes a butterfly.

From the time the caterpillar hatches from the egg, the process or the preparation to die begins. The caterpillar slugs around eating leaves in order to grow bigger. This is necessary because if the caterpillar doesn’t get any bigger, it will affect the size of the cocoon.

Have you ever been in a place in your life in which you had to take in or like the caterpillar you had to just digest “life” as it happened? You didn’t understand why you had to go through certain situations or why you had to endure something that seemed unendurable? But the only thing you had to hold onto was the fact that God promised that this situation was preparing you for something greater that God had for you? If so, you can relate to the caterpillar.

One day the caterpillar stops eating, attaches itself to a leaf or a twig, spins itself into a silky cocoon and prepares to transform. So not only is the caterpillar aware that it’s getting ready to die, but it builds its own tomb. Have you ever been in a place in which God is taking you down what seems to be dark road and it may even look like destruction is at the end, but all you can do is stay focused on the promise that God gave you that something greater was coming? If so, then you can relate to the caterpillar.

Now once inside the cocoon, the very substance of the caterpillar begins to change. The caterpillar literally begins to digest itself and turns into a soupy like substance. However, not all of the organs disintegrate. There are these cells that were created in the caterpillar when it was still in the egg called imaginal discs. These disc will eventually form the eyes and the wings and the legs and antenna of the butterfly. So when everything else is a mess and is all out of order in the cocoon, these disc will always remain in place.

Have you ever been in a place in which everything around you seemed to be chaotic and in dismay but there is such peace, such joy, and plenty of contentment because you know that what is working on the inside of you is far greater than what is working against you? If so, you can relate to the caterpillar.

Inside the cocoon, a funeral is taking place. The caterpillar as we know it is dying. The life that it knew is being killed. So what would happen if the caterpillar decided to fight the process of being killed in the cocoon? What would happen if the caterpillar started to wrestle with itself about not succeeding to the process that it has to endure to become what it was created be?

So now let’s make this illustration live. You’ve done all that you were suppose to do at this level of your life and now God has you in a cocoon and He is trying to kill some stuff that is in you that will prevent you from being and doing what He created you to do. And I’m not talking about killing the stuff that everyone can see. I’m talking about when God is trying to kill that nasty attitude, or that defiant or rebellious spirit that seems to try to creep up in you. Or that disobedient and witchcraft spirit that occasionally waves it’s flag? Or what about that wasteful or unforgiving spirit that you keep dribbling and dabbling in?.

We spend so much time fighting the tomb that we forget that there is a womb that God is trying to put us in so that He can grow us and prepare us to be used for His glory! There has to be a death before the birthing could occur.  Just like the caterpillar has to die in order for the calling of the butterfly to be fulfilled, we must do the same.

So what is it that God is desiring to kill in you. What is it in you that is attempting to rise up and make itself greater than God. What in your life needs to be slayed at the root so that your purpose can blossom and fulfill its assignment in the earth? As we go through this week, meditate on those questions and give God free reign to do what He needs to do so that you can be what you are suppose to be.

It might look like a tomb, but I promise you it’s really just a womb!

We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. (‭Colossians‬ ‭1‬:‭11-12‬ NLT)

Over the past few months I’ve been having a reoccurring tooth ache. I’ve been to the dentist several times on attempt to figure out what the problem was. I’ve had X-ray after I X-ray and nothing was found. I’ve changed toothpaste, used oral gel, and several other home remedies only to have temporary relief.

One of my coworkers suggested that it maybe sinuses. I began taking Claritin D and FINALLY I had some relief. So every time my tooth would ache I would take the Claritin and the pain would leave….until last night. Last night I tossed and turned with this tooth ache as I prayed fervently for God to take the pain away. Suddenly, it’s like a light bulb came on. My prayer then changed. I told God if You choose not to take the pain away right now, Lord just give me strength to endure it because you know how much I can bare!

I would love to tell you that just like that the pain went away, but it didn’t. However God did grant my request. Although the pain did not cease, somewhere during the night I felt strengthened to hold out a little longer! My fight to not let that tooth ache get the best of me intensified! So even as I tossed and turned, I continued to confess God’s power over my situation. And it was His power that gave me the strength I needed in that moment!
Now I hope that none of you have to experience the pain I had with that toothache but understand that even if a situation in your life is getting what seems to be too much for you to handle, all you have to do is ask for God’s strength to endure. It isn’t always God’s will for Him to deliver us out of various circumstances, but it is His will for us to see it through.

 
So as we go throughout this week let our prayer be: God even though things are tough right now, I know that through your power, I’m TOUGHER! Father I pray for your strength to overtake me so that I will gain the power that I need to endure this place!