Coming out of the cocoon

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven...a time to keep and a time to cast away...   Ecclesiastes 3:1,7

I heard a little story the other day about a caterpillar who was very warm, comfortable and safe inside the dark cocoon she had created for herself.  She knew it was time to come out, but she was frightened.  "What will it be like outside the cocoon?  Do I have what it takes to survive?  Am I ready?"  She wrestled with her fears and anxiety until she was convinced it was time to leave her cocoon.  As she struggled to break free, those fears rose again in her mind telling her she didn't have the strength to make the change.  She never thought it would be so difficult, so challenging.  She was brought to the end of her strength when suddenly - light.  Blinding, beautiful, breathtaking light.  At that moment, the cocoon that had wrapped her, protected and sheltered her was left behind as she rose high into the sky.  She had wings!  Wings that never would have flown had she not struggled to push herself from the shelter of the cocoon.  Wings that took her to a new height, providing a perspective she had never known.  She looked down at her cocoon, grateful for the season in which it kept her safe to grow and develop.  But then she looked up with a profound sense of longing to know just how high she could fly.

Have you ever been that caterpillar?