The life of a butterfly has always fascinated me. Through that life cycle, I see a lot of God’s heart for His children. There are three key stages..
1. Birth. Young caterpillars. They spend their time on the ground crawling around. No wings, just a little body to inch around and see only the reality right in front of them, and they know nothing else. 2. Cocoon. It’s a time of isolation. Or just getting away from the reality that once was & taking some time away from it. To grow in solitude & work on themselves, and become brand new. So brand new, that it’s unrecognizable. 3. WINGS! Breaking free from the hard, lonely growth stage and becoming a brand new creation. A brand new pair of wings, with a whole new reality, and whole new dimension. Freedom to soar.
This has been my brain this past week at Adventures. One race Atlanta came this week to speak to us about racial reconciliation. Their heart is to displace the spirit of racism across our nation. No matter the color or tribe or tongue or culture, their heart is to unite all races under Christ. Acts 17:26! Now, if you know anything about me or have ever heard my voice (lol) you know that I am from a little town in South Georgia. I have simply had to ask some hard questions this week. *Disclaimer* I’ve grown up under the parenting of BEAUTIFUL, loving parents who believe that God made every man equal. They have welcomed my friends of every race & every opinion into our home with open arms. But, that sadly doesn’t change the environment I grew up in. I was born as a caterpillar, just like a butterfly! In my own little world, only able to see the things right in front of me. Being here at Adventures, I’ve been in isolation. The growth stage. My mind is expanding & opening. Soaking in things that I wasn’t able to in my environment before. And I feel my wings forming! I’ll never arrive to full growth. But I know that the Lord will continue me on this beautiful path of metamorphosis forever. Growing my wings forever.
Here are some things the Lord is opening my mind to that are a little more of a gray area from where I’m from!
We should be pro-life from conception to grave! That little fetus is a human life, precious to God and should be welcomed into the world. Just like we should have open arms to welcome the immigrant. Heaven is our home! We are all aliens to this world, in a foreign land where we don’t particularly belong. Homesick for heaven! Leviticus 19:34 says, “The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your NATIVE-BORN. Love them as yourself, for YOU were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.” This is truth.
The spirit of racism is real. It’s in our nation. We live in a broken world where even the woman who loves everyone & loves Jesus, clutches her purse a little tighter when a man of color walks by. But, good news. The bible sets us up so well to learn how to approach the racial divide in our nation. Jesus told the story about the Good Samaritan in response to this question!!!! “Who is my neighbor?” The Samaritan was the Jewish man’s neighbor! Even though the whole world shouted otherwise. We are to love, and welcome, to CONSTANTLY pull up new chairs to the Father’s table and make room for more and more and more. Love is the whole point. To be compelled by love, to draw people into experiencing the Father. Make heaven crowded. It isn’t about learning to be colorblind… it’s about learning to see the color and love it and appreciate it and welcome it. Love your neighbor. Your homeless neighbor, your neighbor of color, your LBGTQ+ neighbor, and your immigrant neighbor.
This isn’t politics, people! This is real love! Mental metamorphosis forever!
