Our little family has planted a garden of vegetables and herbs over the course of the last month.  Thanks to copious amounts of downpour, it’s taken over three weeks to get our little garden beds and potted herbs all the way planted.  We talked about stages of seeds while we placed tiny eggplant and flat cucumber seeds into the ground.  About how incredible it is that the seed must sit in the dark ground, heaped with manure.  And die.  In order to become this growing, flowering, fruit producing sustenance for  us.  (Also how the basil seeds planted into the carpet would not produce any kind of flower because it wasn’t cared for properly.)

I recently watched a CT scan video on the changes that happen to a caterpillar in the chrysalis.  Science is wonderful.  Without damaging the insect, we’ve discovered how the structure of a caterpillar is completely broken down.  While we’ve traditionally called the insect a “soup” in this stage, it’s incredible the breakdown that occurs.  Organs change; muscles break down at a cellular level to rebuild and “imaginal discs” show themselves in the formation of the adult butterfly.  The caterpillar must, at a cellular level, completely de-compose in order to move to its next stage of life.

While human beings don’t undergo the intensive metamorphosis that seeds or caterpillars do, Christ does tell Nicodemus that we “no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”  (John 3:3 NIV)  And that we must “count (ourselves) dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”  (Romans 6:11 NIV)

These words seems to have lost their shock value, and have been twisted and misunderstood over time.  Born again means stepping into the realm of our “God inheritance” as a child of God.  And dead to sin doesn’t mean we devalue our human experience, but that we embrace and trust enough to make Jesus Lord in our lives.

Once we step into our God-ordained identity and begin the transformation, we still struggle.  We still have problems.  Life is still hard.  In a culture where prosperity theology runs strong, we often ask ourselves what we’re doing wrong or why we deserve hardship.

But Psalm 10 says, “In his pride the wicked does not seek (the Lord); in all his thoughts there is no room for God.  His ways are always prosperous; he is haughty and Your laws are far from him; he sneers at all his enemies.  He says to himself, ‘Nothing will shake me.  I’ll always be happy and never have trouble.”  (v 4-6 NIV)

David says its the “wicked” who are trusting they’ll always be happy, and never have hardship.  How often do we fall into this mentality?  We trust our jobs, our planning, our competence, our strengths.  And if things are good, we’re not often down on the ground, face to the Earth, begging God to be Lord in our lives.  We think that we can “handle” things, that we aren’t desperate for God to act in our lives.  And we expect that the jobs, the health, the good fortune to last.

But life isn’t about one stage, or one season.  Change is the only constant in the natural realm.  And security doesn’t exist outside of God.

Paul encourages us in Romans 12, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.” (v2a NLT)

We are called to be the seed in the manure, the caterpillar in the cocoon.  To find beauty, even in the midst.  And God, who is ever faithful, will work His wonders.