What if God put butterflies on this world because we’re slow to comprehend the new life awaiting His children in heaven?
Maybe they are to show us a glimpse of how our bodies will one day be changed– from corruptible to incorruptible… from mortal to immortality.
Maybe as we look at caterpillars, we are to be reminded of how our lives are tethered to this earth– our vision is confined to the limits of what is immediately before us– our life is but a dim shadow of what we are meant to be.
And as we gaze at the transformed butterfly, we receive a glimpse of our souls as they will one day be… possessing a greater freedom, a more far-reaching vision, and new LIFE that is beyond what we can imagine.
“For we know the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together…waiting for… the redemption of our body.” (Romans 8:22-23)
So when we see the bodies of our loved ones begin to wear out, we know that they will one day have a new, far better body.
And so when those dear to us go before us, we can look at the shell of their body and know that they are now possessing a life that we can only imagine.
And we can say,
“Death is swallowed up in victory. Oh death, where is thy sting? Oh grave, where is thy victory?” (1 Corinthians 15:54-55)
Suzanna, your photographs are always stunning, and the close-up looks at nature are always a way to return to the Creator. Thank you for beauty and truth.
Thank you! I appreciate you taking time to comment. Your words are always an encouragement.
Death is such a hard thing for us to understand and cope with because it was never meant to be. In my long life I have experienced many, from a wee babe to the oldest root in the family tree. Knowing the grave held no victory never gave me enough comfort. Every fiber of my being ached for those lost. Then Father gave me these verses to hold… “We know that when the tent which houses us here on earth is torn down, we have a permanent building from God, a building not made by human hands, to house us in heaven. For in this tent, our earthly body, we groan with desire to have around us the home from heaven that will be ours. With this around us we will not be found naked. Yes, while we are in this body, we groan with the sense of being oppressed: it is not so much that we want to take something off, but rather to put something on over it; so that what must die may be swallowed up by the Life.” ……what must die may be swallowed up by the Life …….. Yes, we must die if the Lord tarries BUT we are swallowed up by THE LIFE. So when I leave here to go home I’ve told everyone just to say I’ve been swallowed up by Life. Mortality is here…. LIFE is there. And He is ever faithful so your heart can find some rest in that.
And in just in case I forget and start to feel the grief rise again He brought a whole bunch of monarchs to my yard 30 some years ago…. after a bunch of milkweed grew in my flower beds. Every year I marvel at the dance of the females that come to lay their eggs. Then we hunt (and protect) the caterpillars. Everyone of us yells for joy when we find a chrysallis and check on it frequently. From my kids, to my grandkids and now my great grandkids it is a clear lesson that Father shows us in the physical, that we can see, that this is exactly how it is done in the spiritual that we can’t see, So, through the tears, I can still lift my face and praise the Great I AM.
Thank you for sharing. I love the thought of being swallowed up by life. And how special that you get to watch over a bunch of monarchs each year and be reminded of the new life we have in Christ and the new life awaiting us.