The White Butterfly Effect: God’s Promises Revealed
Photo from Unsplash by Wyxina Tresse
Biblical Back Story
“For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”
Romans 1:20 ESV
Read Romans 1 for full context.
This verse in the bible is bold. Paul, an apostle for Christ, wrote the book of Romans (a letter to the Roman) church to encourage them in their faith and to clearly explain the Gospel to the new Christian Faith that emerged after Christ was crucified, resurrected, and ascended into heaven. Jews and Gentiles (those who were not Jewish) that were believers in Christ, were the recipients of this letter within a Pagan society where popular faith was Greek Mythology. In the first chapter he shares that the existence of God is clearly seen by the creation he has made so people are without excuse (Romans 1:20).
Currently my church is studying the book of Romans and our Pastor preached about how creation is meant to be awe-inspiring and turn our eyes to the Creator.
I will be completely honest and say that my favorite form of worship is being in Creation, hands-down. My husband and I love to hike together and every wedding anniversary we go on a new hike together.
A picture my husband took of me in Hocking Hills during our 5 year anniversary trip.
The White Butterfly Story
Last week we started up our bible study that I lead and we all shared some life updates as it had been awhile since we’ve all seen each other and met. One of the ladies in our study shared big news and shared an incredible God story with us. God had opened a door in her life to pursue something new and start a new chapter and she shared with us something that she had never done before in her prayer life. She asked God to specifically show her a sign if this path was meant for her. She specifically asked for the sign to be to see a white butterfly.
She then proceeds to tell us that shortly after praying this she not only saw one white butterfly, but many that day. She shared this with her family as well and they also saw white butterflies together. Seriously gives me chills showing how God worked to confirm and bring her peace that this was the path for her.
Fast forward to today.
For the past month I’ve been wrestling with some demons due to my husband starting Medical School about a month ago. With any big change in my life, this tends to be a trigger for anxiety and insomnia. With Josh no longer working, I am the bread winner for our family now and have been feeling extra pressure with this new responsibility.
This afternoon I went for a walk with my two golden retrievers behind our home that is located in front of a farm field. There is a path for us to walk along the field and I try to take my dogs on this daily. During the course of my walk, I encountered about 30 white butterflies. This has never happened before.
It was a slow progression of emotion as when I saw the first few, I immediately thought of my friend and God’s promises in her life. As I continued my walk, I started to feel the presence of the Lord so much more. I felt the Holy Spirit say to me as I continued to see more and more of these white butterflies “everything is going to be ok.”
Then the coolest thing happened.
For about 10 steps or so, I had a butterfly flying right beside me and it felt like it was walking with me.
It was in that moment that I knew God was telling me that he is walking right beside me during this time and season in life. The sudden rush of peace that I felt in that moment stopped me in my tracks and I began to cry tears of Joy.
As I continued my walk back to my house, I saw more white butterflies.
I thought to myself, how cool that the Lord used my friend in bible study to share her story of the white butterfly and he then proceeds to speak to me through his creation, of using white butterflies. Showing me the promise that he made in scripture, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
