“Living by faith isn’t living with certainty. It’s trusting God in spite of unanswered questions and unresolved doubts.” Pastor Rick Warren in “Box of Butterflies”
I have been reading a book titled “Box of Butterflies” by Roma Downey. Roma used to play Monica in “Touched by an Angel,” one of my favorite shows in the late 90s. As much as I liked the show, I’m liking the book even more. It was recommended by my friend Marcia because she said that my motto for this year, surrender and trust, is “peppered throughout the entire book.” She’s right.
In the book, Roma Downey shares her life with us. She has not had an easy life, but her trust in God has allowed her to surrender all to Him, especially in her most difficult moments.
It’s easy to trust God when all is going well, but we have to trust God “in spite of unanswered” prayers. We have to trust God in spite of our difficulties. We have to trust God in spite of changed plans. We have to trust God in spite of our fears. We have to trust God in spite of our doubts. We have to trust God in spite of the mountains He places in our path.
In addition to her own personal story, the book is full of quotes, poems and scriptures. One of my favorite quotes is “We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us” by Joseph Campbell. This is a great lesson for the planner in me to learn. I plan and plan and plan, and God just laughs and messes up all my plans. I’m learning to accept that He is the captain of my boat so I might as well let Him steer.
One of the reasons why I’m loving this book so much is because it’s reinforcing what I knew deep in my heart but didn’t trust. When we surrender and allow God to be the captain, He will lead us through rough and uncharted waters, but what an amazing journey it will be. This is exactly what happened to Roma, an Irish girl who allowed God to steer her boat. It brought her to New York where she started her career on Broadway. This eventually led to “Touched by an Angel,” and later to producing “The Bible” series for the History channel in which she starred as the Virgin Mary. When we surrender our plans to God and trust Him, He will do amazing things in our lives in spite of all our fears and insecurities.
Roma didn’t allow the world of Hollywood to deter her from her faith. She always kept her eyes on God, and even though she encountered many storms in her path, with God as the captain of her boat, she has had an amazing journey. Needless to say, I highly recommend the book. I still have about 100 pages more to read, and I’m savoring each one.
In addition, just like Roma, I love butterflies, and they too remind me of God’s presence. He knows when I need them, and He sends them to me, even to my fifteenth floor balcony. One day, I was having a tough day. I sat on the balcony, closed my eyes and just prayed. When I opened my eyes, a subtle movement on the leg of the chair next to mine caught my eye. I looked closer and it was a huge brown butterfly.
“What is she doing all the way up here?” I asked myself. I soon realized that it was God letting me know that He was in control of the situation. Three days later, the butterfly was still on the balcony. I had a feeling that I had to release her, just like I had surrendered my worry to God. She was hardly moving so I carefully placed her on a cardboard, walked to the banister, and dropped her. I looked down, and she was just falling. “Oh no, I killed her, she cannot fly,” I said aloud. And just a few feet from hitting the ground, she opened her wings and began to fly. She came up as high as my balcony. It was as if she came to thank me for reminding her that she could fly. She fluttered for a few seconds in front of me, and then she just flew away. I was so in awe, I just sat and thanked God for letting me know that I could trust Him because He was in control.
I conclude with another quote that I loved from the book: “For there in the journey and stuck in the sting, the struggle… the struggle… is what gives you wings!” Karen Kingsbury. We don’t like to struggle, but just like the butterfly has to struggle to get out of the cocoon in order to get her wings, we have to struggle to gain ours. If we trust God in spite of the struggle, He will give us amazing wings and lead us to great destinations. And once in a while, we need to be reminded that we can fly.
Copyright © 2023 Christy Romero. All rights reserved.
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