– “To Change with Seasons” by Mike Gates –
As seasons change, so do the landscape, the environment, the colors, and textures of what is dying and what is no longer living.
Change can be painful. We try to avoid it, holding on to what is, afraid of what could be. Change is uncomfortable, the anxious feelings of uncertainty. We struggle to accept it even though we know it is inevitable. You cannot run from it, and good luck trying to hide from it.
Does a caterpillar know from birth that one day it will flourish into a beautiful butterfly? Does the caterpillar dread being constricted, trapped inside its own cocoon, not knowing how long it has to wait? Does the caterpillar struggle with how it looks before their season of metamorphosis takes place? Surely a caterpillar must know, somehow, some way, that it will change.
We live our lives forgetting from one season to the next that there is a day coming when we will flourish too. How often do we constrict and trap ourselves with the cocoons we created, or allow others to hold us in one? We live our lives struggling with who we are, how we look, and where we are going. Surely, we must know too, somehow, some way, that we will change. We go through so many phases and stages of life, we should be used to change, right?
Just like a caterpillar we too experience a metamorphosis, called transformation. A transformation where we go from crawling around on the earth, we meander and wander, lost and confused. But one day, one glorious, beautiful day, to be changed, transformed, to soar like an eagle, so much freedom, there is so much freedom. To know who we are, not caring about how we look, and having a sense of purpose of where we are going.
I used to fear change, did not like it, did not want it. Why do we get so comfortable in stages of life that we do not like? We hate it, we feel stuck. You know those rough seasons, when we yearn for something different, something new, but yet we get too scared to leave behind what we got accustomed to. To mature and grow we need change.
I used to fear change, but with God in my life, now I embrace it. With God in my life, I am transformed. With God in my life, I can soar like an eagle. With God in my life, I broke free from the cocoon I created, that “safe place”, so I thought was, but it was not. From a caterpillar to a butterfly, so many stages, so many phases, no longer lost, no longer wandering, no longer wondering. With God in my life, I now know who I am, I no longer care how I look, and I know where I am going!
As seasons change, so do the landscape, the environment, the colors, and textures of what was dying and what is now living. Are you ready for change?
