On May 3rd of this year, Sis. Charlene Wilson and I went to Bakersfield to enjoy lunch and to get some supplies for a surprise Mother's Day dinner for Sis. Allard and Sis. Wilson. There have been so many things going on in my life over the past 7 months that it seems that I have been caught up in a whirlwind and can't get my feet on solid ground.
On the way home to get ready for the evening service with such a heavy heart, I told Sis. Charlene, "I feel that I am nothing but a lowly caterpillar in search of something better in this life. I feel as though I need to climb upon the Tree of Life and go as high as I can and then go out as far as possible on one of those high branches. There on that branch I need to begin to spin a cocoon. A cocoon of Jesus! I need to spin Him around me so tight until I can see nothing but Him. I need to wrap God around me until I can not hear or see anyone or anything but Him. I need to be able to focus ONLY on HIM. I need to stay there in that cocoon and not move or come out until I am healed and made into what He wants me to be.
That evening Pastor preached such an awesome message. He hit me full force with the Word of God. Pastor preached from Isaiah 40:25-31. He spoke about how the eagles will plunge themselves into the storm and spread their wings until they rise higher and higher until they are above the storm. There they will stay until the storm is over. This is what we need to do when we are hit by the storms of life.
I thought to myself, like the eagle, this lowly caterpillar will climb that Tree of Life to rise above my storm and there I will stay until this storm passes by.
Then Pastor spoke on verse 31, "They that wait upon the Lord, shall renew their strength..."
He said the word "wait" does not mean to serve or to stand by but it means to get intertwined with, to get tangled up with. Then he asked us if we ever had a slinky as a kid and if it ever got so tangled up that there was no way we could get it untangled. That is how we ought to be with the Lord. We need to get so intertwined in Him, so tangled up in Him that there is no way that anyone or anything can ever separate us from the Lord. No storm, no heartache, no pain, no suffering, no weakness, no problems that should come our way can separate us. We will climb higher in Him. We will rise above it all and there we will stay and focus on Him until the storm passes by.
I looked across the isle at Sis. Charlene and yes, I passed a note during preaching. I said, "Like a caterpillar making a cocoon, wrapping myself in Him until I am made into what He wants me to be." She replied, "I think you just got confirmation. All you need now is a quiet place to meditate, pray, read His word and hear His voice."
Then last night Pastor preached from Matthew 22:35-40. This is where the lawyer asked Him what the greatest commandment was and His reply was "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment."
Again, pastor confirmed how we should be so wrapped up in God that nothing else could ever take the place of our relationship with God. Using the term "WRAPPED" taking me back to my feelings of be wrapped up like a caterpillar in her cocoon. Wrapped up in God.
Our relationship with our spouse, children, our jobs, etc. nothing, NOTHING can ever become first in our life over God. There should never be anything that could ever come in to destroy our love for Him. It's all about Him.
I don't know where He is wanting to take me from here. I don't know what His plan is for me through all of this heartache and sorrow. But I do know this one thing, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28 KJV).
I am climbing that Tree of Life and I am spinning that cocoon. For I must focus on Him and His will for my life. When I come out, I don't know what I will be, but I do know this, I will be in His will and He will be holding my hand. I will mount up with wings as an eagle I shall run and not be weary, I shall walk and not faint. How can I be so sure? Because I went to a high place in Him and there I waited upon the Lord. I became entangled in Him insomuch that nothing can separate us from one another and I have renewed my strength in Him.
