Reminders Along The Way

I am not sure how many actual reminders that we really need but I guess enough until we get that it is an all-powerful God that is sending them all.

You have been Christians a long time, now and you ought to be teaching others, but instead you have dropped back to the place where you need someone to teach you all over again the very principles in God’s Word. You are like babies who can drink only milk, not old enough for solid food. ~Hebrews 5:12 (TLB)

We have these moments where we drop back to the place where we need someone to show us all over again. How many times do we drop back? How many reminders do we need? How many prayer meetings or bible studies? How many signals and confirmations are we seeking? Anything more than twice pretty much seals the deal [Genesis 41:32]. Yet God will constantly send as many reminders along the way–not in some bad way–but just enough to let us know that He is with us for every step that we make towards our wholeness.

This year I had the opportunity to travel out of state for a life-impacting women’s conference. I will never forget this one because each message shared was based on discovering our true identity in Christ. The word that was delivered from each of the speakers was very profound. Each session spoke to our very unique existence and purpose in life.  The message that impacted me the most was the last one–about the butterfly. She shared about how we go from all these stages in our walk with God. She explained the entire process of the butterfly and how we are like that as Christians. We go from various stages until we get to a unique and beautifully designed butterfly.

• There is the beginning stage as an egg.
• The slow stage of the caterpillar.
• The pupa stage also known as the cocooning.
• The stage of breaking out into the butterfly.

This is all a process of TRANS-FORMATION [the act or process of transforming; the state of being transformed; change in form, appearance, nature, or character].

I think I cried so much hearing about the caterpillar stage. I felt like a lot of my progress and growth had been so slow. I felt like a baby again. Just like the scripture spoke of in Hebrews 5–we ought to be teachers and now we need to be spoon fed all over again. How humiliating! How frustrating! How upsetting my whole soul felt to be in a place where I needed to be reminded AGAIN! Yet – this was actually the most liberating experience for me in my whole life. I was okay with being the baby. I was okay with this new birth type of experience. I was so free inside to know that I always have a fresh start with God everyday. I felt the presence of God in such an amazing way. I left that place with a new heart, a new vision, a new focus and a new fire that was shut up in my bones [Jeremiah 20:9].

The strangest thing happened though. My flight got delayed due to a snow storm back home and I had to stay another day. I wound up in a child care ER. As I waited in the lobby for my sister-in-law to have her son cared for, I dozed off.  When I woke, there was a cartoon playing on the lobby screen. It was actually showing a yellow caterpillar being transformed.  The cocooning and then into this butterfly in golden yellow. I knew God was reminding me of the message. I kept this in my heart as a personal sign for me. Then when I got back home finally, I had to work the same day. Within a few hours, I get a random text from a friend that had no idea about the conference. She sent me a picture of a yellow caterpillar! I said to myself…”Wow God! Seriously! I get it…no more signs.”

Since the women’s conference, it has been several months. I go to visit family in Long Island as a weekend getaway. Some things were troubling me. So I tried to push it all out and just take a mental break with some rest and relaxation. We get to this museum for Sunday brunch before I leave back home and God reminds me again. This time it was an actual yellow butterfly that landed right in front of me over some flowers. This never happened to me before. I have seen butterflies of course but not like this. This butterfly was huge…beautiful…and YELLOW!!! It buzzed and flickered its wings repeatedly over the flowers and didn’t leave its location. I was able to take several shots of the butterfly with my professional camera. It was beautiful. But most importantly, I thought how much more God was beautiful to me, that this was sent my way as another little reminder that He was with me. It could have been any other color…but it was another exact reminder for me. Yellow–for this signifies hope, peace, intellect, & wisdom,  Which took all of this to make huge milestone decisions in my life. And all through out my own unique transformation process in life, He is with me.

In this same way, we all have our own individual process of life – our stages of learning, growth and transformation. Throughout this all we have our identity. We have acquired things over life that have taught us, shaped us and made us who we are. No matter which way our process goes, God is in the midst of it all. We should never feel ashamed of the baby steps either. As slow as we walk sometimes, we still move forward. There is a time where we may need to be fed that milk again. Milk is great. It is healthy for our nourishment and growth. This gives us a balance in our life. We will ALWAYS have those highs and lows. It is just a thing called LIFE! We have to learn to embrace all that…the good times and the bad. We always have to go through the dark days…that way we can appreciate when we do get to the light.

Let us receive the constant reminders. These reminders let us know that God is following us every step along the way. We are never doing all this on our own strength or effort. God propels us into our destiny and purpose….He even uses those bad days to glorify all the good things that He does on our behalf.

Be reminded!

Be renewed!

We need it all the time. All along the way…through each stage of our life. Never stop reminding us Lord. Keep showing us through signs and wonders. Show us through prayer. Show us through Your Word.