The Lifecycle of the Butterfly 1/2

First, it is an egg from another butterfly, the egg transforms into a caterpillar; It hatches, after hatching, like babies, it begins to eat so much, trying to eat as many leaves as possible, in this, you can see the likeness of growing so much where you are now, of ensuring to build capacity so as to be able to have stamina for where you end up eventually, the caterpillars eat so much with some of them even being able to consume 86, 000 times their own size, what then happens, you wonder, do they not explode? Surprisingly, they do not.

The caterpillars, it does not yet appear what they will be till they enclose themselves.

You see, the caterpillars expand as they eat more, their capacity expands physically even as there is constant increase in the food they consume, they grow bigger, they consume without fear of what will happen if they take in too much, a blessing many newborns seem to have –one you should have as well if you claim to be utterly dependent on the Holy Spirit, you should trust Him regardless of where the path He takes you through leads– one of less fear and worry, they continually shed their old skin as they consume more and put on new skin, they are not stuck in a place.  They are always hungry for more, always eager and seeking for change in order to live.

The butterfly goes through many processes before it finally emerges to be what it will be. 

They are always hungry for more, always eager and seeking for change in order to live.

You should rely on the Holy Spirit regardless of what comes or goes.

As time goes on, they eventually tire of this skin and they stop consuming so much, they go to rest, they enclose themselves into a small pouch, they understand times and seasons, they stop taking in so much at that point and this is the most dangerous point in their lifecycle transformation as they are defenseless now, they have to look for an inconspicuous place where they won't easily be seen by predators, a place where they can easily transit into the butterflies they were meant to be.

A caterpillar that entered the first slide looking like that can come out a different colour butterfly, what really goes on inside the chrysalis(the covering) is a mystery.

This seems like a pretty seemless and straightforward process, what then was the hype about, you wonder, perhaps,  I should begin my tale again but this time speak of the terror they go through, this time speak of how difficult it could be even getting to be a caterpillar, how difficult it could be to find food... 

They grow up alone at times, depending on how the mother laid the eggs, proximity to each other is not always good, they grow up without any parent and have to learn to fend for themselves, they learn to go through the hurdles themselves, they learn to hide themselves properly, to cloak themselves rightly, no doubt, some will fall prey and serve as examples to those left behind. 

To survive as a caterpillar after being one of the few eggs to make it, they shroud themselves and take on the colours of their environment at times, they go to places where they can easily pass off as a part of nature so as not to be killed, in their consumption of food after hatching, they eat all they can see but become careful lateron, they do not just eat without being sure if what they are getting into, they survey their area rightly

Caterpillars do a lot to stay alive, what with disguising themselves, when the disguise is broken, they feign being attacked and release a pungent smell by shooting out a red thing within them so as to feign being poisonous and so they can run, there are some who do not take the message easily however and still torture them while they are alive.

In becoming a pupa, they try to take on the shade of the place they stay on and they try to stay like a stalk so as not to be destroyed from inside out as the case may be.

The endless desire to survive, to keep striving and to ensure they are not victims but instead victors is one of the most compelling thing about the butterfly. Regardless of challenges thrown at them, they seem to be evenly matched and do not back down, using whatever tricks are in their arsenal to emerge as victors, perhaps this is the reason they are seen as symbols of Hope and freedom.