I want to cultivate the tenacity of a well-known
delicate-winged creature. I’m talking butterflies and I’m talking migration.
This isn’t some post about wanderlust or an insatiable
desire to pack my things and hightail it to the Florida Keys because my nose
runs every time I step outside. No, I’m referring to what it takes to push
through when the winds kick up and food becomes sparse. Gusty gales and times
of hunger come for all of us, though they’re disguised differently. A rush of
wind knocks us flat on our faces when we lose a job or a loved one. Hunger
pangs are triggered in times of loneliness or whenever our vision grows
cloudy.
This is why I admire the Monarch’s innate ability to survive—their
propensity to endure.
Monarchs are known for powering through a myriad of
obstacles, including seasonal snow cover, adverse weather conditions like strong
winds and extreme heat, sandstorms, unsuitable habitat, hostile landscapes, and
lack of food sources to name just a few.
In case you’re nodding and saying to yourself, “Sure, Wendy,
we all want to grow stronger in this area,” let me give you a few more things
to think about.
Migrating butterflies adjust. They adjust to their
circumstances—to their surroundings.
And yet remarkably, they stay on course. They refuse to allow obstacles to become
deterrents. Despite the fact that no single individual makes the round
trip, (meaning each flight is entirely new for them) Monarchs handle change
with incredible finesse. It’s as though they anticipate complications, quickly
acknowledging them, then regardless of what tries to alter their flight, Monarchs
fly on.
As I did a little research I read that the Monarch’s flight
pattern is not affected by the wind.
Which brings me to these two verses…
“Then we will no
longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there
by every wind of teaching…” Ephesians 4:14
“But when he asks, he
must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea,
blown and tossed by the wind.” James 1:6
I’d love for my faith and my commitment to trust to mimic
these resilient, beautiful creatures. Certain. Not dismissive of or ignorant to
obstacles on my path, but sure and steady despite them.
Has something in
nature ever reminded you of who you want to be?
*I also read Monarchs have milkweed in their bodies which is
poisonous to most predators looking for a lovely-winged meal. But their wings
say back off. Predators spot their wings and receive a ‘don’t mess with me attitude’
in any altitude. Wonder if having the Word in us and “flying” in its strength
is like being swollen full of milkweed in the eyes of our enemy? May our wings
show it.
**received butterfly
info. here & photo by stock.XCHNG
