The Strange Thing

Imagine you are walking through the woods one day and suddenly notice something out of place: Hanging off a tree branch just in front of you is a jalapeno pepper.

"Hello, little pepper. What are you doing there?" You may be inclined to ask.

"I'm not a pepper. I am a strange thing, and I'm getting ready to fly." It replies, "Flying has been my only dream for as long as I've been alive."

"How long have you been alive?" You inquire.

"Thousands of years." It responds, "But I'm closer to flying now than I have ever been before!"

Would you feel inclined to pity this thing that has no wings but has been trying to fly for thousands of years? Would you scoff at it? Many would. In fact, many have. So many that the Strange Thing once struggled with doubt, thinking maybe it was wrong and that its dream might never actually come true.

In a few, very painful instances, individuals who actually had wings have met the Strange Thing. "You could make fake wings if you had the materials... Or arms to use them." They've said, as if that was encouraging, then flew away and left the Thing alone. Others, who had no wings and no interest in flying, have complimented the Thing for its remarkable feat at having gotten on the branch in the first place. To them, the Thing will ultimately never fly, but its gotten up pretty high and should be proud of its efforts.

"There are airplanes! Get on an airplane and someone else could fly it for you." Some have advised, only to mutter under their breath how expensive airplane tickets are.

Oh, how the Strange Thing knows this!

"Why do you think you will fly?" You could ask, "Why haven't you given up after thousands of years and chosen a more realistic goal?"

"Because God has said that I can fly. He will help me fly someday." Answers the Strange Thing.

You can say whatever you want to after that; you can tell the Strange Thing that it'll fly in the afterlife, or that literal flying might not be what God meant. You can even accept the Strange Thing's answer and continue your walk, never looking back at the Strange Thing or even thinking about it again. Whatever you choose to do, let me tell you the ultimate fate of the Strange Thing:

Where you saw a jalapeno pepper, wanting to fly but without any real way of doing so, God saw something more. Because He put it on the branch where you found it, and He gave it that dream of flying. He told it that it could fly, and for thousands of years, it has tried. One day, the Strange Thing is going to try to so hard that it will crack open, and a beautiful butterfly with big, colorful wings is going to emerge from inside it.

And that Strange Butterfly will fly.

Just because a chrysalis takes a long time to change into a butterfly does not mean that it never will. The change just isn't happening where you can see it. Never scoff at a Strange Thing that talks of flying even though it doesn't have wings. It simply doesn't have wings yet.

Through God, all things are possible.

A monarch chrysalis. (Photo taken from off Google)