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A Time of Transformation
March 15th, 2015
Around the middle of November, after we had moved into our new home after moving across the country, but before I started my new job, there was a day that I was having a lot of difficulty adjusting to all the changes, both for myself and my family. I sat down on my couch and just asked the Lord to help me to understand how recent events helped me move closer to fulfilling my purpose and destiny in Him. Immediately I had a vision of a chrysalis hanging from a branch, very much like the picture above. Within a day the Lord sent two pieces of confirmation; the first was that I came across a short Lance Wallnau Youtube video on "Imaginal Cells" and the second was the realization that the painting of a butterfly that I had bought for my daughter recently was not just of a butterfly, but one that was just coming out of it's cocoon.
This encouraged me some but I was unprepared for how the metaphor of the transformation would begin to play out in my life. I won't go through the entire life-cycle of the butterfly here, but focus only on how the Lord has been dealing with me.
At the time that the caterpillar is ready to begin the transformation, it stops feeding and begins looking for a safe place undergo the change from one thing to another. Whatever place is found for it, the next step is that the caterpillar then roots itself in place then it molts for the last time but instead of new skin there is a hard, shell-like skin. The caterpillar is now a chrysalis. The chrysalis comes from Greek "chrysos", which means gold. For many butterflies the hard skin has a distinct golden color (I know my picture doesn't). For my family and I, this has been a literal process as we have moved and found a place to "be rooted" (part of a church). The hard, golden covering speaks of divine protection during the whole process of transformation.
The next step is the most difficult, yet necessary for the transformation. In the natural, the old body of the caterpillar is turned to literal goo. But then something truly amazing begins to happen. Cells that had been inert within the caterpillar become active. These cells are called imaginal cells and they contain the "image" of the butterfly (new creation) within them. These cells are are very different from the old cells; they even resonate at a different frequency. These new cells are so different that they are attacked by the immune system of the chrysalis. But the new cells begin to not only multiply but then they begin to clump together, then clumps begin to cluster, then the clusters begin to form new physical structures. The imaginal cells are no longer attacked but it it the old cells that are now destroyed. Prophetically, this is a time when God deals with our carnal nature on a deeper level, replacing it with His own. All the dreams and visions we have had, prophetic words spoken into our lives which have lain dormant become activated and begin to change us, conforming us to His image and the image of who He created us to be. Our flesh wars against the Spirit, but as we will yield to the working of the Holy Spirit, we will begin to think as He thinks, speak as He speaks, walk as He walks, love as He loves and do the things that He does. On a macro scale, we begin to make divine connections, first in one's and two's, but then in clumps and clusters. We are divinely joined with others, and begin to form His body.
Not long after, when the new body is fully formed it is time to emerge from the chrysalis. Just before the butterfly emerges, the chrysalis becomes transparent and we can see a glimpse of the new creation. During my research I found that some butterflies force their way out of the chrysalis by inhaling deeply then exhaling in quick breaths. This cracks the chrysalis and the butterfly is able to emerge. Once it has emerged, it cannot immediately fly. The wings need to unfold and dry. Blood is pumped into the wings and the wings begin to become rigid enough to sustain flight. The butterfly also spends this time slowing flapping it's wings, gaining strength. It is during this period that the butterfly is most vulnerable to predators however.
This part of the process speaks of when we begin to walk in our destinies and purposes in the Lord. Just before we emerge, the change begins to become apparent to those around us. All along they knew some sort of change in us was happening, but now the Lord gives them eyes to see. The use of breath to escape the chrysalis is symbolic of the Holy Spirit directing events around us. The blood being pumped into the wings to unfold them and make them rigid speaks to the necessity of becoming set in the ways of the Lord before taking "flight". Of course, we need to "try out" our "wings" before we can truly "fly". We need to remember however that during this time the enemy will attack with special focus to prevent us from beginning to walk in our destinies in the Lord.
As I said at the beginning I had the original vision four months ago. I was fairly certain at the time that I was supposed to share the experience on this website but I kept putting it off. The process of turning to "goo" had already started but I wasn't fully "rooted" and the Lord was dealing with some issues in my heart. Because of some bad experiences early in my Christian walk I had some prejudices that I needed to overcome. With the Lord's help I am dealing with these wrong attitudes and have been able to hear the Lord on which church He wanted my family and I to be a part of. Since being obedient the whole process has been less painful and I have even made what I believe are some "divine connections". Now that I am a little further along in the process and have some perspective, I believed it was finally time to sit down and share this. It is my prayer that it will help you in understanding what the Lord is doing in your life.