Last night the Lone Ranger & I were rewatching episodes of Lost, when a scene occurred that got the wheels in my head turning. I'll keep the detail minimal, but just for background info, the characters on this show survived a plane crash that left them stranded on an island with no sign of rescue. In this particular episode former rock star, Charlie, is detoxing from drugs, & hunter extraordinaire, John Locke, is helping him through the rough road of with drawl. Locke tells Charlie that despite how weak & helpless he feels at the moment, deep within he has the strength to overcome his addiction. Locke sees a moth cocoon on a tree, & shows it to Charlie. He then describes the process of a moth emerging from a cocoon...and this is what got me to thinking. One sees the little cocoon trembling from the moth's struggle to emerge...you even begin to feel sorry for the tiny creature as you imagine how hard that task must be. Locke shows Charlie the tiniest of holes at the top of the cocoon, & he tells him that he could easily use his knife to split open the cocoon, thereby ending the poor moth's struggles & setting it free. Charlie looks back & forth from Locke to cocoon as if willing him to do just that. Just as Locke lifts the knife to the edge of the cocoon, he suddenly stops & looks Charlie dead in the eye. He tells him that if he does this...if he cuts open that cocoon & sets that moth free, that it will not survive. You see, it's in the moth's struggle to emerge in which it develops the strength that it takes to fly. If it doesn't have to struggle to break free from the cocoon then it won't be strong enough to survive. Charlie is obviously moved by that explanation, & the obvious analogy in connection to what he is enduring. By the end of the episode Charlie has determined to struggle to emerge from his addiction...he has set his sights on being the man he knows he can be.
Friends, sisters & brothers, we so often go through obstacles in our lives. We deal with tough stuff & find ourselves wondering if we truly have the strength to survive it. Trouble falls upon us, sometimes so thick we feel as if we are drowning in it...we feel helpless & hopeless. In the thick fog of problems, sorrow, disappointment, & fear...we can't see light at the end of the tunnel. There are times when we wonder if it's even worth the struggle...times when it is far more appealing to bail out rather than press on. When we are surrounded by trials & despair on every side, we can't help but wonder why a loving God allows it to happen. It is in these dark moments when we discover what we are truly made of. We are like that moth, bound up & captive, prisoner to situations (some of our own making & some that are not) that we have no idea how to get out of. We are like that moth, struggling & fighting, battling for our very lives. We are like that moth, seeing a tiny pinprick of light, a fragile source of hope that gives us the strength to keep fighting. In the midst of the struggle we have to wonder why God doesn't just reach down & break off the chains, scatter our troubles to the wind. Locke could have done the same for the moth, but why didn't he? It is in the midst of struggle that the moth develops the strength to fly....it is in the midst of our battles that we discover the true source of our strength...that we discover what we are really made of...and we emerge from the dark times stronger & better than ever. That moth was created, designed by the Creator, to survive the struggle of breaking free from it's cocoon...it was part of a grand plan that prepared it to fly...the ability to struggle & survive was the divine nature of the moth.
Sisters, brothers, friends, we live in a fallen world. We live among a people that want nothing to do with the things of God. We ourselves struggle to put aside our sinful selves in order to embrace the new nature He has designed for us, but with His love in us...we are capable of surviving & thriving that struggle. When we deny the instinct to give up, to bail out, or cop out, when we fight the good fight...by God's grace we will break free from the bondage that holds us captive. If we did not endure struggles, if life was always fine & dandy, if things always went our way, we would not/could not see our need for God. If the sun was always shining, if we were always successful, if we always had everything was wanted...why would we think we needed Him? Truth be known if life was perfect, to our way of thinking, even then there would be a battle...to fill a void that can only be filled by Abba's infinite love...and so He allows the toil. He allows us to feel the fear of being captive to bad things, but He also offers that pinprick of light...that glimpse of hope that causes us to dig in & fight...to battle to emerge from bondage..to grab hold of our Faith in Him with all our might...and with His grace, by His grace, we can & do break free. When we love Him, when we accept Him that becomes our nature...He designed us with the ability to burst out of the cocoon by His strength, by His wisdom, by His mercy...not our own.
The troubles & struggles that I am speaking of come in many forms, the loss of a loved one, financial strain, broken relationships...but it can also be little day to day disappointments that pile up over time...they can be such minute frustrations that we scarcely notice how each begins to take hold us...we do not realize that we are becoming captive to depression, anxiety, & bitterness until suddenly we can't move. One moment we are loving life & full of joy, & then suddenly we are surrounded by darkness. Big problems or small ones...they all can result in the same captivity. I italicized the word 'can' because we do not always have to be victims to struggle. The more we press in to Abba, the more we embrace His vision, His expectations, & live according to His will...the more we will be able to recognize our troubles before they take us captive...as soon as we feel the weight of affliction press upon us, we can begin crying out to our Father & leaning into His strength. We can come to resolution before it overtakes us. Today, whether you are fully engulfed in a cocoon of heartache or whether you can just see the threads beginning to wrap their way around you, my prayer is for you to see the light of hope that God is offering to you...my heart is for you to grab hold of Him & to fight with all the strength He has set within you...break free of the bonds because you were created with the nature to do so!
2 Corinthians 5:17 'Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone & the new is here!"
The first step to emerging from the cocoon of trouble is to shed off the old sinful nature, to receive God's mercy, & to put on the new nature He created for you...and then fight...fight by knowing His word, fight by crying out to Him, fight by surrounding yourself with those who know Him...and watch with amazement as the cocoon begin to loosen & then fall away...watch as you have the strength, through Him, to emerge from the darkness of your troubles & to fly into all that He has planned for you.
Philippians 4:13 'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
Ephesians 2:8 "For it is by Grace you have been saved, through faith-and this, not from yourselves, is the gift of God."
Be Blessed this day!
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