Look at the Insects: Lessons From God’s World Sample

Behold, The Butterfly!  

Did you know that a particular species of the Monarch butterfly migrates 3000 miles across North America? This is one of the greatest natural wonders of the world. What is most striking about this mass exodus is unlike birds or wildebeest migrations, these individual butterflies will never return to their base!

How does this colourful insect take to the skies and travel 2 months all the way to these oyamel fir trees in a few mountains in central Mexico - where millions of them huddle together in winter? Even more surprising is that a few generations later, the cycle repeats.  

How does this work? How do they identify their flight corridors without a GPS? 

Scientists have identified two control mechanisms that keep the Monarch on track - one is timekeeping "clock" neurons in the butterflies' antennae and the other from what are called azimuth neurons in their eyes. These monitor the position of the Sun and the angle of the sun is crucial for them to pace their trek. 

But, how do they know where to go in the first place? How do the butterflies that emerge out of the pupa know their destination? Actually, the 4th generation of butterflies that emerge are the ones that migrate and they live 6 to 8 months unlike the rest of them who live for just 2 to 6 weeks. The biology of this butterfly is intriguing. 

Reminds one of a question in the book of Job: 

Does the hawk take flight by your (human) wisdom
 and spread its wings toward the south? Job 39: 26 

Well, that question came from God and the obvious point seems to be that as much as nature is intricate and beyond comprehension, God Himself is the creator, who is above and beyond a complex world. 

Here are a couple of aspects about the Monarch butterfly that brings home essential insight. 

The metamorphosis (life-cycle) of a butterfly from the egg stage to larvae, pupa and then an adult butterfly is fascinating. Now, that root word metamorphose is used in the English Bible as ‘transform’ – which is a central idea in the gospel of Jesus. 

The Greek word metamorphoo is used in Romans 12: 2 where Paul writes: “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind”. 

In II Corinthians 3: 18 we read: believers in Christ are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory. 

As believers in Christ we go through radical transformation that began when we became a new creation in Christ and we are constantly being transformed into the image of God. The butterfly reminds us of change and continued change. The pupa hardly has a resemblance to the bright colours and beauty of the butterfly. In fact, the pupa hardly knows what to expect when its time is up. Paul captured this transformation in these words: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined the things that God has prepared for those who love him”.

Secondly, we are pilgrims and travellers in God’s grand story. The Bible presents our life here as a journey, and our final destination with Him as home. It is a call to sharpen our homing instincts and develop our spiritual muscles for the travel home. 

Let me end with a few lines from C.S. Lewis: “The settled happiness and security which we all desire, God withholds from us by the very nature of the world … It is not hard to see why. The security we crave would teach us to rest our hearts in this world and oppose an obstacle to our return to God… Our Father refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant inns, but will not encourage us to mistake them for home.”

May the transformative power of our Lord Jesus work in us as we travel through the path ordained for us.