Everything which would seek to steal beauty from this world and joy from our lives is compost for the greater things to come. Every tear is a seed sown, the ground watered for greater things to come. All the horrors of history, all the tragedies of today are nothing compared to the glory God will one day reveal.
Photo Credit: Flower Path | A flower path runs through trees at a display … | Flickr
Yes, there is suffering. Yes, there is evil. Daily, we’re bombarded with news we’d rather shut our eyes and ears to. Yet still, there is beauty, tenacious beauty. Where there is beauty, there is hope. And if there is hope, there is reason to live.
Photo Credit: File:Bodnant Gardens, Petal strewn path – geograph.org.uk …
Have you ever considered the vast beauty that surrounds us, not only in flowers, but in trees and hills, mountains and valleys, rivers and seas, canyons and waterfalls? Have you ever appreciated the exquisite uniqueness of each animal that graces air, sea, and land? And does it ever confound you that each of these exist despite the surrounding death and decay? The evils of earth pale in comparison to the beauty which prevails.
Photo Credit: Mountain, Landscape – Free images on Pixabay
I refuse to believe we were created for bondage. We were not placed on this earth to be enslaved to never-ending moral decay. We were planted here by a loving gardener who desires for us to grow and flourish and have life that is truly life.
Photo Credit: Free photo: Crocus, Alpine, Snow Mountains – Free Image on Pixabay …
Source: The Secret Of the Seed
If we can look beyond the moment of change to the ultimate outcome, we may more readily embrace it. Faith enables us to see change as a seed, piercing the ground and transforming the soil. Our response is to patiently wait, knowing the seed will transform into something beautiful in its time.
Source: Embracing Change
A few days ago, I was the one waiting on the butterflies to emerge from their cocoons. Now they’re waiting on me. Or, rather, we’re waiting on the weather. We can’t set them free until the time is right.
When it’s warm enough, we can release them from their temporary habitat so they can fly unhindered. Problem is, the weather’s crazy out here in the Midwest. We never know what’s gonna happen. Our April has felt more like winter than January did. And so, we wait.
Today, three of the butterflies climbed to the top of the netting, wings twitching in anticipation. From where they sit, they have an expansive view of the outdoor field where their greater destiny awaits. Freedom calling.
It feels so harsh, holding them back when they could fly free. They don’t know that if I release them now, they’ll die. It’s too cold for their delicate wings.
Sometimes we wait on the verge of our destinies, wondering what’s holding us back, and why. We don’t understand how we could leave our cocoon behind only to find ourselves in another cocoon. It’s larger than the original, but we have wings now. We were made for more.
We need to remember there’s “a season for everything, a time for every purpose under heaven.” If God is holding us back, it’s for a purpose. The season may not be right just yet. But in due season, the warmth will rush in, ready to embrace us.
It may seem we’re being unfairly restrained, but If we move forward in the wrong season, we’ll never reach our destinies. We’ll die in the cold. When the season is right, we’ll fly free. If only we wait.
Photo Credit: Field, The Sky And Butterflies Free Stock Photo – Public Domain …
This Life & Beyond 
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