Aftermath: Coming Down The MountainSample

Black Box

They call it a Black Box. We see what goes in. We see what comes out. But what happens inside is a mystery. There are all kinds of black boxes in nature, but the one that comes to mind is the butterfly’s cocoon. 

We see the caterpillar go in, wrapping itself in silk, fat from feasting on leaves. 

We see the butterfly emerge a few days later, spread its wings, stretch in the sun, and fly away. 

But we don’t see what happens in the middle. If you cut a cocoon open mid-metamorphosis, you’d see one thing: goo, and lots of it. Once it’s wrapped up, the caterpillar essentially digests itself until only a handful of cells remain, and eventually those cells reconstitute as something entirely different. What went in fat and wormy comes out majestic and beautiful. What went in slow and earth-bound emerges free to fly on wings that were nothing but goo a few days prior. 

Our lives can feel like that sometimes. We see what we used to be, the limitations of our bodies and the sin that keeps us earthbound. We see (through eyes of faith) what God has promised for the future. But what’s happening now can often feel like so much goo. Romans talks about this feeling of impatience. “The whole earth groans,” it says, “and so do we.” We can’t WAIT for God to make us perfect. We long for the day when we can spread our wings and fly. No more pain. No more struggle. No more eating leaves. 

But God asks us to wait. Because while we may not see it, he knows that we’re still in the cocoon phase. We are still being made perfect. Every day, we grow a little closer to Him. We become a little more like Christ. He’s not about to cut us open while we’re still goo. 

Challenge:

1. What do you need to trust and wait for? What has God promised that you CANNOT WAIT to see come to life? 
2. How can you live out God’s plan for you now, in the lives of those around you? Service? Encouragement? 
3. PRAY: that God will give you patience to endure the present, faith to believe that better things are yet to come, and hope to see the future He is bringing to life in you.