Broken

This past week, while walking past my butterfly bushes, I stopped and look at a butterfly on the bush. It made me catch my breath at first. It was the first Monarch I saw this year. It was resting on the flower blossom. However, when it opened its wings and started to move across the plant, I noticed something terrible must have happened to it. It was missing part of its wing. It was broken. I felt so sorry for it at first and then the more I watched, the more I realized, it was just fine. It kept up with the others as it crawled across the flowers. And since I didn’t put it there, it must have flown there somehow. I would check on it from time to time and it was not suffering in anyway. After awhile I noticed it flew away. I didn’t see it leave, nor did it return.

I pondered this for a bit and I felt that whisper in my soul, say, “You were broken too, until I healed you”. We all are broken. We all are in need of a Savior. We can look like everything is fine on the outside and we fool a lot of people, but just like the butterfly when it opened its wings, the truth was revealed. Now, we can hide a lot from people, but Jesus sees right to our heart. We need to be healed and He is the perfect physician. Do you feel broken? Do you feel like you made choices that leave you wounded and not beautiful anymore? Do you feel like you will never be beautiful again? Do you know that when He looks at you, He smiles and is crazy about you? Do you know He loves you more than any person could? Do you know that when He looks past your physical body He sees EVERY sin you have committed and will commit and still loves you? He wants to wash away all the dirt and stain that sins leave behind. He wants to restore the relationship He planned from the beginning, but He is a gentleman and will not do so, unless asked by you. Jesus extends grace and mercy to a fallen world. He knows we will mess up. He knows we will ask for forgiveness yet, continue to do some type of sin. He loves us anyway. However, we need to ask for His forgiveness, and believe that He is Who He says He is. Who, exactly is that? The Son of God. Will you allow Him to clean your heart? Will you hand over the guilt and shame you have been carrying? You don’t need to walk around broken anymore. Surrender to Him all that weighs you down. You know what, He already knows. You can’t shock Him, but you can love Him and you can have a relationship with Him. Satan wants you to feel defeated and alone. He knows with Jesus on your side, he doesn’t stand a chance. But left on your own, he will move in quickly. Just like a lion. A lion doesn’t wait for the group of deer to come or the strongest and healthiest, no, it waits and waits, until the one by itself comes along. Then it makes it move. Satan is referred to this type of lion in scripture.

 I also loved that the lesson He showed me this week, was once again through the butterfly. I am a new creation when I accept Him. Just as the butterfly was once a caterpillar, it is now a new creation, a butterfly.

What jumped out at me with the butterfly was that it looked broken and I focused on the fact that I, too, have been broken. It looked so normal at first, but when I realized the damage done to it, it gave me a different perspective on it. We can go all our lives looking “normal”, but inside we are broken. God looks at the heart, not the outside like man does. What will He see this week when He looks at your heart? Will it be covered in sins or will it be whiter than snow, cleansed by the precious blood of His Son, Jesus?