New and Improved

 “See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare…” (Isaiah 42:9)

So, my wife and I are butterfly farmers. Purely amateur, mind you – we don’t have USDA certification or anything like that. But over the past three years we have released over 200 monarch butterflies, and about 75 black swallowtail butterflies. And so we consider ourselves farmers of sorts.

The overall process of attracting the mother butterflies, nurturing the caterpillars, providing them with a space to form their chrysalises, and then releasing the newly-emerged butterflies takes several weeks from start to finish (even longer in the case of some of the black swallowtails, which sometimes remain in their chrysalis through the winter, emerging when the warm weather of spring returns).

Over the years, I have taken countless photos (surprise!), and have even managed to capture the process of the caterpillars pupating into a chrysalis, as well as the moment they emerge. IMO, it’s really cool. You can watch the videos by clicking on this link and this link.

It is an amazing thing to consider the transformation from caterpillar to butterfly. Even though the DNA of the caterpillar is identical to the DNA of the butterfly that emerges from the chrysalis, nobody would ever claim that the caterpillar and the butterfly are identical. Indeed, the butterfly is completely new and different from the caterpillar. The butterfly can never go back to being a caterpillar.

When I consider the amazing transformation that results in the creation of a butterfly, I can’t help but being reminded that our God is all about the business of making all things new. God is all about redemption and renewal.

“...new things I declare”

“See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare,” says the Lord (Isaiah 42:9). You and I may be prone to letting the past drag us down. Our failures haunt us. We dwell on the things that have wounded us. We let our regrets weigh us down. It’s understandable that we are like this, because in a sense the past is the only reality that we know – the future hasn’t been defined yet.

Only, we do have a future. God has a wonderful plan for us. God doesn’t dwell on our past like we do. Indeed, God sees not what we have done or been, but what we will become by the transforming power of his grace and love. “I know the plans I have for you,” to quote an overly-quoted verse of the Bible, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future” (that’s Jeremiah 29:11, but you probably already knew that). 

By the grace of God, you and I do not have to let the past weigh us down. We are no longer defined by the mistakes we have made and the ways that we have fallen short; we are defined by the infinite steadfast love of God which never ceases, a love that declares to us, “whoever is in Christ is a new creation – the old has gone, and the new has come”! (2 Corinthians 5:17)

It might just be me, but I happen to think that, even though the caterpillar looks pretty cool, the butterfly that emerges from the chrysalis is infinitely more amazing and beautiful. 

If God will do that with a caterpillar, just think of what God will do with you and me.