Redemption Comes in Many Forms

You might be wondering what happened to my butterfly that was struggling to get out of the chrysalis. I didn’t say anything about it, because I didn’t know what to say. He never did make it out of the chrysalis. Then he died. I didn’t know whether to try to help him get the other wing out or what. The wing that came out was all folded up and misshapen. The butterfly must have had something wrong with it. I was so sad all day that day. And I wondered what God was saying to me through it. He gave me such a neat poem, based on how he had given me a hidden treasure – a surprise – so that he could delight me. And then when the treasure came out, it died!

I was, frankly, hurt by the whole thing. My hopes were dashed, and I was going to have to admit to the whole world (people who read my blog) that God let me down. How was I going to explain this? I hadn’t felt this dejected since God let us lose our house instead of saving it for us.

My friend, Pat, offered a suggestion as to the meaning of the whole incident.

When the world looks at you, what are you telling them about your Creator?

Have you been saved and preserved by Christ never to push forth from your chrysalis and shine for Him? Why did you stop short of breaking forth, stretching your wings, and showing the world how marvelous your Creator is?

Have you broken free from sin and barely begun to unfurl your wings only to stop when you felt the pressure and stares from the frightening world beyond? Trust Him. He made those wings beautiful, but they’re sturdy enough to fly and take you anywhere His breeze carries you!

Predators do chase after butterflies, but so do puppies…and children…and imaginations…

Enjoy the last of the butterflies from the quickly passing season, Penney, and remember, God sent you a butterfly…and His gifts are always perfect…

Her thoughts gave me a lot to think about. I kept hearing about how we are to reflect our Maker. Everywhere I turned there was something about God living inside of us and how we should look like Him.

For example, I get a prophetic word in my email every weekday from Marsha Burns from Faith Tabernacle in Colorado. The timing of her words has been uncanny. They have seemed as if she knows exactly what we’re going through, and the words apply to our situations and give us hope and encouragement and even direction. She always has scripture that they’re based on. God has spoken through her to us many times.

These are the words that she sent on Fri., Sept. 3rd and Mon., Sept. 6th, the days during and right after I lost my butterfly.

SMALL STRAWS IN A SOFT WIND by Marsha Burns — Sept. 3, 2010:

The battle of the ages is raging to transform you into the image of Christ while Satan also tries to make you into his image. I have given you free will, the ability to choose, says the Lord. The enemy has increased his pressure through your circumstances, difficulties, and persecutions to choose to respond to life with evil instead of good. But, I have given you My Word to influence and guide your choices. Be wise!

Revelation 22:12 “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.”

SMALL STRAWS IN A SOFT WIND by Marsha Burns — Sept. 6, 2010:

“I am bringing you into alignment on every level. It is My will to position you properly so that My purposes can be accomplished and My kingdom established. You may not think that you, as an individual, have much to do with destiny. But, everything you think, say, or do is vitally important to the spiritual condition of your sphere of influence. Be diligent to demonstrate the kingdom.”

“You have been repositioned as you have had to let go of many things that once meant everything to you. This has been for the purpose of establishing you in greater spiritual reality with renewed strength and vitality. You have stepped into a time of being reconnected to your spiritual roots yet with refreshing revelation.”

“The days ahead will be filled with My glory in the practical and commonplace things of life as you maintain awareness and see My manifest presence in unexpected ways. Walk in the Spirit and be available.”

“Events that left you reeling and trying to find stability and balance will now truly become a thing of the past as you begin to realize how insignificant it all was as compared with eternity and destiny. The power of My healing and restoration will become evident as you are able to release those who caused you pain. Forgiveness is essential to redemption.”

“I have established an altar in the heavenlies, in the realm of the Spirit, where you can bring all that concerns you, things you can do nothing about, and things you have absolutely no control over. Leave them with Me and release your fear and anxiety. Nothing is impossible with Me. Come into that place of peace and rest, trusting Me in all things.”

“You feel like you’ve been cut off, but this cutting off has only been from those things that needed to be put aside at this time. You are like a tree that has been cut off and banded so that your spiritual roots could go deeper and you could become stronger. Let your roots go deeper in the Word, in revelation, and relationship to Me. The day of release will come in due season.”

“There are times when you feel totally disconnected and alone. This is because the enemy of your soul has lied to you and tried to isolate and weaken you. But, that is not My design or plan for you. Now is the time to reconnect spiritually, first to Me, and then to those who are Mine. Take the time and make the effort to re-establish yourself in divine connections and kingdom purpose.”

“Allow Me to take you forward inch by inch, step by step, without fear or worry. I am with you and will open doors that no man can shut and to shut doors that no man can open. Trust Me with your future. I have already proven to you over and over again that I alone am your place of security, says the Lord.”

As we go through another time of uncertainty and pressure, I have been pressing into God. He told me to, so I have been trying to obey Him.

This is what we’re facing right now:

We have been told that we have to leave the house we’re in by the 30th of this month. We had asked to start a month-to-month lease after our year lease was up in August. Instead the rental management group suddenly told us that the owner decided not to renew our lease and that he wanted us out by Sept. 30th. He also wanted to show people through the house while we were still living here. It all felt so oppressive and crushing. I asked, “Don’t we matter at all?” The lady from Christone said, “Yes, or we would have told you to be out by the 13th of Sept., 30 days after the lease was up.” Isn’t that kind and considerate?

Well, we prayed about what to do. They wanted us to sign a year lease and when we didn’t, this was how they reacted. But we felt that God was telling us that we would be leaving soon. We really feel like God is taking us somewhere else in the next couple of months. So if we signed a year lease, we wouldn’t be showing faith in God, and we would be stuck paying rent here and wherever we will be going until this house gets rented.

After we prayed, I heard the Lord say “Phil. 4:6“. I looked it up and found out that the Lord was telling me not to be anxious about anything. He said to just make my requests known to Him and then to be at peace. I have been struggling to hold on to my peace. I have made my requests known several times, and I have sown in the name of my requests.

We need a place to live and a new job in the place that God has for us. We have an artificial time constraint that the owners and Christone have put on us. We don’t know when God wants to move us on to another place. So the devil is trying to make us feel pressured and anxious. It feels like the walls are closing in on us. It is hard not to feel picked on.

If we tried to find another house around here, we wouldn’t be able to commit to them for a year lease, either. If we tried to find another house around here, we would probably run into the same problem we had last year with the occupancy rules they have that we could only put 2 children in each bedroom.

It is very difficult to move a family of 12. It’s very expensive to move. We would probably be doing it twice in a year if we tried to find another place to live here and then Gary got a job in another state. It is so unnecessary for us to move right now. He still has a job here. We have always paid rent on time. They really have no complaints about our record as renters.

We’ve been packing, but as of this moment, we still don’t have another job or a place to move to.

So this is what I’ve been dealing with. This is the burden I keep having to take to the Lord.

This post is getting extremely long, so I will continue this in the next post. Read on to see what God did today as a sign of hope and redemption…