The Sailboat and Butterfly

There are many accounts in the bible of transformation or change. The one story in the bible that stands out the most to me about change or a transformation, is the story of Saul.

Saul hated Christians, he made it his goal to capture, then bring the Christians to public trial and execution. Saul was present when the first Christan martyr was executed (Stephen). (Acts 7:51-8:1)

After Stephen's execution Saul went door to door seeking out the people who believed that Jesus is the Messiah (Acts 8:3). After putting these people in prison, Saul learned about their Christian friends in Damascus by obtaining letters that were sent out. (Acts 22: 4-5) He set out for Damascus, But on the way something happened to Saul.

Here is his account of what occurred according to Acts 22:6-15. 6And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me. 7And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 8And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. 9And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me. 10And I said, What shall I do, LORD? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do. 11And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus.12And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there, 13Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him. 14And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth. 15For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard. (NKJV)

Saul was blinded for three days. For three days he sat in the dark and did not eat or drink, until Ananias came and laid hands upon him. He now was proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah whereas before he was killing those who were proclaiming the same thing. It says that he was blinded for 3 days, I don't believe it took the three days for him to be transformed. I believe the transformation began the moment the light shone down from heaven upon him.

Paul writes about being transformed in Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God (NKJV). He does not state “transform yourself” but “be ye transformed.” We can not make transformation happen ourselves; it is something God does to us. What then is our role in the transformation process? Our role is to train for the transformation. 1Corinthians 9:25 states Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever (NIV). One of the main reasons why we tend to give up on the “transformation” process is because we exhaust ourselves trying to be transformed, when the bible states that we must be trained in order to be transformed.

There is a major difference between training to do something and just going and doing it. How many of us can go out on a field and play a game of soccer? I know I could because I was on a soccer team, I had the proper training in order to be a soccer player. If you didn't have the proper training before going out onto that field you would get very confused on which direction you were to go. On which goal you were to be aiming for when kicking the ball. Just like in our everyday lives, we are being trained daily on which route to take, which people to hang out with, and which people to encourage.

It is like learning a different language, at first you can speak a little, but with the proper training you can become fluent in the language. Training means the education, instruction, or discipline of a person or thing that is being trained. When God is training us in essence he is teaching us about discipline. Discipline means training to act in accordance with rules. God has given us a set of rules to live by the rules being the commandments. Through the training he is equipping us with the proper tools that we need to succeed.

I have written about God training us, but there is also a training we ourselves must do. We must first pick up the training manual. The Bible. We must then start to read and seek out the word of God to strengthen us in order to overcome some of the obstacles that will be put in our way. God's way of training is to give us tests/ trials. James 1:2-4 states 2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. It is through the trails that we become stronger, when we become stronger we will be lead farther into our transformation process.

Spiritual transformation is a long-term process. It involves both God and us. Think of it as if you are trying to cross a lake. Some people try day after day to be spiritually mature and disciplined. They are like someone on a row boat trying to get across the lake with one oar. It is exhausting and sometimes unsuccessful. Others have given up trying and throw themselves entirely on "relying on God's grace." They're like drifters on a raft. They do nothing but hang on and hope God gets them there. They think the tide will take them where they need to go, what they don't understand is that the tide comes in and it goes out, eventually you will end up back where you started from.

Neither trying nor drifting are very effective in bringing about spiritual transformation. A better image would be the sailboat, in which if it moves at all, it's because of the wind. We can't control the wind, but a good sailor distinguishes where the wind is blowing and adjusts the sails accordingly.

Working with the Holy Spirit is like the wind in John 3:8, "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." what it means is we have a part in discerning the winds, in knowing the direction we need to go, and in training our sails to catch the breezes that God sends us.

2 Corinthians 5:17 states Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

I often look at this scripture and envision a butterfly. You may ask why a butterfly, when a butterfly comes out of its cocoon it is breaking free from the past, from what it was. We as Christians need to act like a butterfly and break free from our cocoons and let the past go. We can not expect to fly like a butterfly if we are still holding onto the cocoon. When the caterpillar goes through the metamorphosis its way of thinking is changed. When a butterfly emerges from its cocoon it doesn't want to crawl on the ground, or eat leaves. It has a new direction it has a new purpose. Its amazing that a butterfly does not need to learn how to fly, it just does it. Why can't we be like that? Why can't we just say ok God use me and lets go.. The reason I think is because our mentality hasn't fully changed. We say we are Christians, we say we go to church, but are our every day lives reflecting what God wants it to reflect? Are you trying to be what you once were, even though the transformation has already begun?

The connection that I would like to make between the butterfly and the sailboat is that they both rely on the wind for most of their travel. When you look at a butterfly you notice that it will flap its wings and then sail with the wind. The butterfly learns to rely on the wind because it can take it places faster than what it could on its own. The same goes with the sail boat, with the sails down it is just drifting on the current of the water. But when the sails are up it is gliding across the water. God is our "wind" once we start relying on him he will bring us places we thought we could never go, we just need to trust him more and determine which direction he is pointing us.

I know I am to be a pastor/youth pastor, but without the proper training I will never become a pastor or a youth pastor. God did not give me the gifts that I have if he was not going to train me on how to use them. He did not give you the gifts you have if He wasn't going to train you on how to use them. God will not begin the transformation process if we ourselves are not willing to change. I urge you to be like the butterfly and spread your wings. Don't look at where you were, look to where God is leading you.

I pray that whoever reads this post will be encouraged to seek God and be willing to accept the call on your life. I also pray that you will become like the sailor and determine which way the wind is blowing so you can catch sail, and move in the direction you need to go.