Prison Stripes. Can darkness turn you into something better?

I believe it can

When the caterpillar emerges from the chrysalis

No longer wearing the prison stripes it once knew

No longer marching its many feet in formation

To the beat of its hunger pangs

Like a chain gang

Needing food

It has transformed

Into a beautiful butterfly

Its new brightly coloured, iridescent wings

Basking in the sun, drying

Ready for flight

PRISON STRIPES

We all love a good transformational story, don’t we?

But don’t you find, that sometimes people leave out the dark times of their story?

As though it’s still too painful to re-visit?

They no longer want to talk about the prison stripes they once wore

That determined their identity

Talking about their prison stripes

Kinda feels out of place now

Like a zebra standing in a field of thoroughbred horses

But we need to share our dark times

Because only then will the light feel so much brighter

To be fully transformed into a butterfly

You have to first let the darkness transform you

From the inside out

You have to let darkness do its job

And turn you into something better

WHEN THE DARKNESS TURNS YOU INTO SOMETHING BETTER

Sometimes, God will cocoon you in a chrysalis

And leave you in the darkness for a while

Because He wants you to understand

That for the transformation to happen

You have to trust Him

By staying in the darkness and safety of the chrysalis

Now, that can be hard

When your used to being in the light

Darkness can feel lonely

Darkness can feel like you’ve been forgotten

Darkness must mean that God doesn’t care anymore, right?

You can either turn bitter or better in the darkness

But this is where God performs His best transformations

Stripping away everything that has blinded you

And giving you the vision to see what He wants to develop in you

A chrysalis is designed to protect the caterpillar

Not to harm it

And as you go through the transformation, while in the dark

You will do your best growing and developing

Where there are no distractions

Just God and you

God knew your wings had to be protected

As they were not yet fully formed

Because they needed the darkness to develop and grow strong

The darkness helped your wings gain the strength to transform

Into the beautiful butterfly you have now become

God used the darkness to help you shed your prison stripes

And turned you into something better

So, fly little butterfly, fly!

 

Wendy xo