What does your mind go to when you think of butterfly shed?
A box full of beautiful butterflies?
A couple feet high and a couple feet wide?
Pretty simple?
Thats what came to mind when our host said we would be working with a butterfly shed to provide jobs for people in the church. They would export the butterflies for weddings, celebrations, etc. Simple enough right?
Boy was I wrong. We ended up leveling their entire backyard for the project our first day. I was still confused at this point why we were digging such a big area for such a tiny butterfly shed.
Day two we went to pick up the butterfly garden from the person who had donated it. This is when it all started to make sense. It was not a shed, but a 15 ft by 15 ft by 15 ft greenhouse full of plants for the butterflies. That day included digging up all of the trees are taring down the greenhouse, one concrete pole at a time.
Our next task was to dig holes in the leveled ground to replace all of the concrete poles. Ali and I were assigned to dig a hole in the back corner of the property near the tree line.
We dug about a foot and hit a root. After chopping and digging at it, we finally were able to get it out.
“Thank God that is gone.”
2 inches later…Another root. An even bigger root.
So back at it, chopping and digging again.. Finally out.
2 inches later…Another root. An even bigger root. You get the picture.
The deeper we dug, the bigger the roots were and the harder they were to get out.
Isn’t this how our lives are? We find something in our lives that needs to be dug up in order to find freedom. A lie that we have believed for so long that it has buried itself deep into our hearts. A sin that has began to choke out anything else good that wants to grow in our lives. A hurt by someone else that has caused a chain reaction of hurt and believing things about ourselves that aren’t true.
But these trees that have sprouted in our hearts, some having been there so long they feel like full grown trees, are not what the Lord has for us. He wants nothing in our hearts that aren’t from him.
The Lord has been exposing roots in my life this month that I didn’t even know were there. He is walking me into freedom. Free to be who he created me to be, regardless of my circumstance. But the roots are deep. And painful. The closer to the root of the tree, the bigger and harder the roots are to get out; however, the Lord is not going to give us more than we can handle.
When the Lord exposes roots that need to be taken out, there are 2 options: to say yes or to say no. I came on the race to serve people around the world, but also to learn and grow in my walk with the Lord. I don’t want to return home and look the same; instead, I want to look more like Christ.
So I said yes.
Yes to the Lord walking me through painful processes to find forgiveness and healing. Yes to allowing God to show me how to trust people better and deeper. Yes to Him speaking into my identity. Yes to walking more fully into who Christ created me to be. Yes to freedom.
After a month of one hard thing after another, what did I learn?
- When the Lord is providing your strength, you can do more and serve better than on your own.
- Allowing the Lord to step you into hard things isn’t easy, but on the other side there is freedom. I am walking in more freedom today than I did stepping off the place into Costa Rica, and it feels great!
- The Lord will never hand you more than you can handle: together.
- There is always redemption in the Lord.
What are some roots in your life that the Lord wants to dig up? Have you asked Him?
The digging is hard, but there is so much freedom to be found on the other side. Freedom that the Lord wants us all to walk in. Freedom that the Lord wants for ALL of His children. No matter how many trees you need to dig up. No matter how deeply the tree has rooted itself into your life. I promise you, freedom is worth it.
