Butterflies

Butterflies are surely one of God's most beautiful and amazing creations.  They are so fragile, yet they have such a vital purpose on the earth.  The butterflies and moth in this post all lived in the butterfly house at the Life Science Museum in Durham, NC.  My grandkids delight in going into this warm butterfly sanctuary - and I do too!

I wrote that these butterflies "lived" in past tense, because, sadly, I took these pictures in July last year and so, these beautiful little creatures will have passed on by now.  You see, butterflies have a very short life span.  The average lifespan of an adult butterfly is 20 to 40 days.  Some species of butterfly only live for three days.

A short poem called Time, by Rabindranath Tagore, reads:  "The butterfly counts not months but moments and has time enough."  What a profound statement!  A butterfly that lives for three days has slightly over 4,000 minutes to perform its entire life purpose - yet - it "has time enough."

Although its life is short to our viewpoint, the butterfly does not frantically rush about trying to accomplish as much as possible.  Rather, this dainty creature gently flutters its wings, flitting from flower to flower, unhurried - quietly doing the job for which it was created.  And what beauty this little darling gives to the world along the way!

What about us?  The Bible reminds us that our lives are short in the scope of eternity.  In James, we're told: "For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away" 4:14.  And in Psalms 144:4, David writes, "Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow."

Such reminders shouldn't alarm us, but rather cause us to take the wise advice of Moses, who wrote, "So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom" 90:12.  If the little butterfly has time enough, then we do too.  God created each of us with a separate purpose and He gives to us the time necessary to complete that purpose.  When our vapor vanishes off the earth, we want to echo the words spoken by Jesus when He said, "I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do" John 17:4.

This large, colorful beauty is actually a moth, but moths have their purpose as well. The butterfly - and the moth - bring glory to God, their Creator, during their short life journeys because they faithfully perform the duties for which they were created.

Like the butterfly, we are beautiful creations with a purpose. Let's live that purpose for Him and we too will have time enough.