Thursday, January 10, 2013

What We Can Learn from Moths (yuck!)


I can’t stand moths.  To be more precise, I am deathly afraid of them.  They are hairy and can fly into your hair.  Let just say I wasn’t the same after Silence of the Lambs.

Still, if I can get past the heebie jeebies, there is a lot I can learn from the moth.

Legend has it that the Chinese empress Leizu discovered silk when some moths were eating her mulberry trees.  She was probably pretty annoyed by this problem.  She decided to sit down to tea to consider how this was to be solved.  As she sat pondering, one of cocoons fell into her cup.  The heat of tea unraveled the cocoon to produce a long thread.  She soon realized that this thread could be woven into cloth.  Out of this seeming problem came one of the most valuable and beautiful materials in all the world, silk.

Your circumstances right now may seem troublesome.  You didn’t ask for the situation and you are praying desperately for it to end.  Keep in mind, God uses those situations to draw you near and teach you about his character.  He is the God of miracles.  You can’t learn that when everything is going well.  Instead of looking at your circumstances as a problem, try to see that God is weaving something beautiful.  Thank him that he has trusted you with the glorious revelation of himself.  He trusts you to discover the beauty in the circumstances. 

Notice that the silk wasn’t discovered until it was exposed to heat of the tea.  Tough circumstance may make you feel like you are in hot water and it certainly doesn’t feel good.  It is through these circumstances, however, that your character is revealed.  They also allow God to demonstrate his power to transform even the most trying situations into his glory.  The heat of life produces the beauty of life.

It is significant that this beauty comes from the stage of a moth’s life that is one of radical transformation.  God matures us through trying circumstances until we are transformed into someone more like Christ.  It isn’t pretty and it involves a lot of struggle just like coming out of a cocoon does. 

Watching a moth or butterfly emerge from a cocoon you witness the struggle they go through to come out.  You may be tempted to help it along by opening up the cocoon so the moth finds it easier to emerge.  The struggle, however, strengthens its wings.  Helping it along may prevent it from flying.

You may be praying for your situation to end, but know that it will last long enough for you to strengthen your wings.  Trust in God’s timing.  You will find that you will emerge to fly among God’s glory.  It isn’t pretty and it is a struggle but in the end it is worth it to be able to fly.

Psalm 90
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
    that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
    for as many years as we have seen trouble.
16 May your deeds be shown to your servants,
    your splendor to their children.

2 Corinthians 4:17 

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.