Which came first, the chicken or the egg? You can say the same about butterflies… which came first, the caterpillar or the butterfly? Caterpillars begin as an egg from a butterfly. As caterpillars grow, their skin doesn’t, not the way human skin does. In order to grow the skin of a caterpillar splits. This is called molting. A caterpillar will molt several times as it grows. Once grown a caterpillar attaches itself to something solid like bark or a twig. It works hard to spin a cocoon around itself and the branch. The caterpillar is now enclosed in a chrysalis somewhat similar to a baby in the womb.

Inside the cocoon the caterpillar breaks down into liquid leaving a few cells intact. The remaining cells develop into a butterfly. When it is fully grown it is ready to emerge from the cocoon. Slowly he chews away at the chrysalis. This struggle is necessary for the growth of the butterfly. When he finally emerges he spreads his wings and flies away – a caterpillar tansformed into a beautiful butterfly. If he does not go through this process of emergence and is released prematurely he will surely die.

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A baby in the womb begins as a tiny cell which, when fertilized, attaches itself to the inside of a woman’s uterus. It grows and when it is ready to be born it begins, for some, an arduous struggle to emerge from it’s mother’s womb, breaking through the membrane, and out into the world. The baby was curled up in the womb, and uncurls when it emerges. The same with a chicken in an egg.

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Humans lives are not much different than the development of a caterpillar into a butterfly. We begin as mere worms. As we grow we shed our skin, become independent from our parents. But we need to take hold of something solid like a rock – God. Throughout life we are broken down by the obstacles we encounter. Without these struggles we cannot learn and grow. With God’s help we will emerge transformed into the beautiful creatures God intended us to be.

Turn to God your rock as you struggle through life’s obstacles - when you feel broken down - and you will emerge, like the butterfly from the cocoon, into one of God’s beautiful creatures… and fly.