“Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” John 12:24 KJV
I have been told that being buried alive, is one of the worst ways to die. You are alone. Trapped. Still full of life. For the time being. You fight in a panic. Pawing and clawing in the little space you have. Trying to dig yourself out. You are uncomfortable. Shifting from position to position, yet still in the same space. Your breathing begins to slow after the panic wears off. You find yourself drifting…
I imagine Joseph, our dear dreamer, feeling this way. Just a young boy, not fully a man. He is boastful, lacking understanding in his destiny. Seeing only the natural and blind to the spiritual. His brothers, who hate to see him coming, devise a plan. One wants to kill him. He is tired of his dreams, he is tired of his favor…The evidence he wears of the father’s love and favor grates on his nerves. The very sight of that coat causes his hackles to rise and he loses himself in rage. Joseph must die… Thank God for Reuben, the oldest, the responsible one. He overhears the plan of Joseph’s imminent death and frantically searches for a plan of his own. He sees the pit… yes, the pit. He can convince them to leave Joseph there and come back later to help him to escape…
What is an egg? The Butterfly starts off like most of us. As an egg. A seed if you will. Full of new life and potential. Surrounded by a protective covering. Ready to make its way in the world, with a little time and growth. The only thing is, a seed must die so that it can truly live. A seed with the right fertilization, conditions and soil can die to reach its full potential. It can shed its shell and let the greatness within break free. For the butterfly to reach full maturity it must break free from itself. Multiply times. You must break free from misconceptions and false identities. Break free from the what you believe yourself to be and move beyond your limitations. Does the egg know that one day it will soar? Not just sit but soar. But first it must DIE.
To die to oneself. One’s thoughts. One’s ideals. One’s preconceived notions. Death is not to be feared, it is to be embraced. So, I say to you embrace those valley experiences. Embrace those wilderness experiences. Embrace death experiences. Immediately after Jesus’ baptism by John, He was led in the wilderness where he fasted for forty days and nights and was then tempted of the devil. Because of the death of His flesh, and the fullness of the Holy Spirit within Him, he resisted temptation, and His ministry began.
There is a process. A process of birth. A process of death. A process of life. A process of purpose. Death is a big part of the process. You may be required to die to multiple things. You may have many death experiences. However, at the end of the process there is a beautiful life waiting. “For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.” Rom.14:8 KJV. Just as we are the Lord’s whether we live or die, remember the process is the Lord’s as well. He knows our end from our beginning.
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” Jer. 29:11 KJV
The pit was all a part of Joseph’s process. The experience of the pit I’m sure haunted him for quite some time, and even when he reached the palace, he may not have understood the magnitude of his process for his purpose. The egg does not know what it takes to become a butterfly, but the butterfly soars with the knowledge of the egg experience. Darling, do not wallow in your death experience, embrace it and move forward. The process is just the beginning.
Up Next… The Caterpillar ~ Eat it ALL! “Moreover he said unto me, Son of Man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel.” Eze. 3:1 KJV
