Betsy Hendricks / Preschool Ministry Assistant
Overwintering. Sounds like something we are all going through right now, doesn’t it? It’s also something that can happen in the life-cycle of a caterpillar. It is the way some species wait out the winter season, or pass through that period of the year when "winter" conditions make normal activity or even survival difficult or nearly impossible. When the weather becomes warmer the butterfly emerges from the chrysalis just as it should have done months earlier.
Our four-year-old preschool class was able to observe this process first-hand. Back in September, their teacher brought in a black swallowtail caterpillar. In just a few days it had spun a beautiful green chrysalis which was suspended on a twig by mere threads. As two weeks passed, the chrysalis began to lose its vibrant color. It became dull and gray-looking, dried out and brittle. Personally, I had given it up for loss. Surely, nothing could be living inside that thing.
Fall came and went. Winter hit … hard. I don’t think many of us gave a second thought to the shriveled sheath in the oversized jar. But there was a miracle taking place. Over five months later, that butterfly emerged with colors just as bold and brilliant as could be!
Recently and frequently I have been thinking about God’s promises. More specifically, that God keeps His promises. When He promised Abraham that although he had no children his descendants would be innumerable, God fulfilled that promise by giving Sarah a child even in her well-advanced age. When David became king of Israel, God promised him He would establish a house for David and his kingdom would endure forever before God. Even after all of David’s sins and transgressions, God still came through on His promise with the birth of another King: Jesus Christ.
No matter our faults and failures, God remains faithful to what He has promised us. Seeing the life that emerged from that chrysalis – from something that appeared so blatantly dead – was just one more reminder of the promise that He gives us of new life and eternal life in Jesus.
Our four-year-old preschool class was able to observe this process first-hand. Back in September, their teacher brought in a black swallowtail caterpillar. In just a few days it had spun a beautiful green chrysalis which was suspended on a twig by mere threads. As two weeks passed, the chrysalis began to lose its vibrant color. It became dull and gray-looking, dried out and brittle. Personally, I had given it up for loss. Surely, nothing could be living inside that thing.
Fall came and went. Winter hit … hard. I don’t think many of us gave a second thought to the shriveled sheath in the oversized jar. But there was a miracle taking place. Over five months later, that butterfly emerged with colors just as bold and brilliant as could be!
Recently and frequently I have been thinking about God’s promises. More specifically, that God keeps His promises. When He promised Abraham that although he had no children his descendants would be innumerable, God fulfilled that promise by giving Sarah a child even in her well-advanced age. When David became king of Israel, God promised him He would establish a house for David and his kingdom would endure forever before God. Even after all of David’s sins and transgressions, God still came through on His promise with the birth of another King: Jesus Christ.
No matter our faults and failures, God remains faithful to what He has promised us. Seeing the life that emerged from that chrysalis – from something that appeared so blatantly dead – was just one more reminder of the promise that He gives us of new life and eternal life in Jesus.