Two redneck caterpillars were hanging out one afternoon, leisurely chomping on a leaf and chatting when a butterfly flew overhead.
They watched as the butterfly sailed on the breeze into the distance. That’s when one said to the other: “You’ll never catch me up there in one of them.”
Little did they know what the future would hold for them.
My friend Harold Wainscott in Long Ridge, Ky., told me about those caterpillars, making the point that too many people have a fear of flying. I was thinking the other day about people I have known who allow fear to limit their travels and, therefore, their opportunities to share the Gospel.
The world is an amazing place with so much to see. God didn’t make it dull or drab. It’s beautiful and filled with interesting people, and Harold thinks people should take every opportunity to see it.
It’s from a plane that we can see the truth in the old saying: “Every cloud has a silver lining.” It can be rainy down here, but, as your plane gains altitude, it breaks through the clouds into brilliant sunshine. While it’s dark and dreary down here, it’s bright and shining up there.
It’s that way in life. Sometimes circumstances can seem altogether gloomy from this side of the clouds. In such times, we need to trust that the silver lining is there, even though it’s not visible from our current perspective.
Scripture tells us that God has a purpose – a silver lining – for every storm cloud that comes into our lives. “To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:1).”
I’m reminded that the Apostle Paul spent the latter years of his life in prison, certainly a dreary place. Yet, God used him during that time to write much of the New Testament and to touch many lives in the process. That was the silver lining.
I’m also reminded that Jesus himself faced a dark time when he was nailed to a cross by wicked men. He hung there in excruciating pain before he gave up the ghost. Yet, in dying, He offered the ultimate silver lining, eternal life for all who believe in Him.
When we’re facing the difficult times, it would serve us well to ask ourselves how our hardships compare to those that Jesus endured.
Jesus allowed himself to be sacrificed on that cross for the redemption of mankind. And he wants us to faithfully endure all the circumstances that come into our lives, using them as opportunities to show the world what it means to trust Christ in the tough times.
Those redneck caterpillars were satisfied with low-living, not knowing that the Lord had a life-changing metamorphosis in store for them. He doesn’t want us to be satisfied living as caterpillars. He wants us change us. He wants us to soar.
Roger Alford offers words of encouragement to residents of America’s heartland. Reach him at rogeralford1@gmail.com.
