Went for a run today, praying that a butterfly would land on
me and I would hear God speak but I discovered two trees instead…
Hang with me while I explain, because I know it sounds a bit
odd. I heard a sermon yesterday from a
pastor who had butterflies land on him during a run through a forest preserve then
he heard the Holy Spirit speak to him about the direction for his life to take.
So I thought I would give the concept a try today because I
am beginning to believe that the Holy Spirit is more active then I have
actually believed in the past. So I
laced up my favorite running shoes and set out with utter confidence I would
have a story of a butterfly landing on me.
Even wore a bright orange running shirt to look more like a flower in
hopes of attracting them! For many
people that sounds totally weird, but for anyone who has sensed an intuition,
heard a whisper or had a dream that is more super then natural, it makes sense.
So I went for a run in a local forest preserve fully
expecting a butterfly would land on me and that specifically it would land on
me in a new stretch of trail that is by our new house. Who cares it is almost 100 degrees in IL, I
had butterflies waiting for me!
I wanted to hear from God today, especially after reading
Psalm 1:3, “He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit
in its season, and its leaf does not wither.
In all he does, he prospers.” I
so wanted a word from God and thought a butterfly would usher it in and it
happened!
That verse has special meaning to our family because when we
first heard it in 2015 at church during a message series called “Evergreen” and
it gave Jackie and I a vision for RockSolid Life. (RockSolid Life is our ministry to help
people “Be You, Take Courage and Go!” in the area of health, fitness and
nutrition). We even went to TJ Maxx and
bought an expensive looking (but cheap) watercolor painting to hang in our
living room to mark the meaning of that phase.
What we did not know was that when we moved this past year
the same tree that is in our watercolor painting from 2015 would be the exact
tree in our backyard. Literally same
tree a year later. You can tell in the
watercolor that the tree is changing seasons but there are no yellows or reds
in the leafs. I never knew a tree to not
produce color in the fall until I saw our very mature sycamore tree in our
backyard go from green to brown without a color change. Seriously the Lord provided us the exact
house with a backyard tree which matched a painting we purchased a year
before. Kind of supernatural cool!
Ok, back to my run.
So I am running down the new section of trail waiting for a butterfly to
land on me. And guess what? I see one!!! I am giddy with excitement. So I
stop, take out my headphones and stand for a few minutes waiting for heaven to
part, time to stand still and a shower of butterflies to envelop me. Guess what…I watch the butterfly flutter away
into the woods and not come back.
Started to think, maybe that was the wrong butterfly. Maybe that was the non-holy spirit one. So I stood still for a bit longer waiting for
another one to show up and land on me.
Then a heard a bird and looked up and heard the Holy Spirit whisper “walk
towards the bird”. It was an orange bird
I had never seen before in my life. Like
never…even at my grandma’s house where she feed birds over the winter and we
would watch them for hours as kids. I
started to think, perfect I am going to have a new species of bird land on
me. That makes for an even better story
then a butterfly. A mystery orange bird
would be perfect. So I walked closer to
the bird with my shoulder prepared for its landing. It was chirping away and I was ready. Guess what?
It flew away too.
So, I am now left alone on the trail with no butterflies and
no birds to give me the direction in life.
I had prayed and believed that I was going to hear from God and the new
section of trail was 30 feet from ending. I started to think I had got it all
wrong.
That was until I looked up and saw two younger sycamore trees
rooted and established next to a stream just a few feet off the trail and a few
feet before the new section of trail ended.
I smiled, laughed at myself and heard the Holy Spirit whisper, “You and
Jackie are young, like these trees. Have
patience my son and I will be with you as you grow. The vision I have given you and Jackie is
true and the new path I am taking you on is the right direction to go, just
have patience.”
Peace entered my heart in that moment and I will never
forget the fact that God used a butterfly to get me to pause, a bird to call me
closer and two trees to teach me a life lesson.
The bible comes alive through prayer and the power of the
Holy Spirt.
Jeremiah 17:7-8: “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that
sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its
leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not
cease to bear fruit.”
Psalm 1:3: “He is like a tree planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all he does, he prospers.”
It’s so hard to not give up when all the butterfly’s and
birds fly away and you are left standing on an empty trail. Maybe just stand for one more second and see
what happens.
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