Float like a butterfly

"He commanded them
to take nothing for the journey"

Mark 6:8

Okay, we're going for a journey today.  You ready?  We're going to go camping, then follow the migration path of monarch butterflies, and then learn a little about the American Civil War general George McClellan.

My family went camping a few weeks ago.  We used to camp every year, but we took a several-year break, so I was really having to put my thinking cap on when I packed.  Packing for a camping vacation is unlike packing for any other vacation, because you really need everything.  You're not just packing clothes and toiletries, but your bedroom, your kitchen and your family room.  And yet, you don't want to go overboard, because you don't want to lug any more than you have to, and everything's liable to get dirty.  So it's a careful process of choosing what you (think) you can't live without, adding those things to make it fun and deleting anything unnecessary.  It really forces you to analyze what's important.

that's not our trailer; we're tent campers!  :)

And while I was doing all this thoughtful packing, I was thinking about monarch butterflies.  A couple of years ago I read a book about monarchs, and was fascinated by much of what I learned.  Monarchs are famous for their long-distance migration, from northern South America to southern Canada, and back again.  It's a trip that takes so long, no butterfly makes the entire round trip.  Eggs are deposited by the females, and when those eggs become butterflies, they instinctively make the trip back from whence their ancestors started.  One of the many amazing mysteries of this wonderful planet God created. 

Now, monarchs need food, obviously.  They need sustenance for the energy to fly for very long distances, and to survive cold weather along the way.  So you might think they prepare as a bear might prepare for hibernation ~ by eating a lot in preparation for the journey.  

But if you think about it, the more a butterfly weighs, the harder it's going to have to work to fly.  It's going to be heavier, and less aerodynamic.  So rather than bulk up before the flight, monarchs fill up along the way.  They don't fret before they leave, wondering where they are going to put all the milkweed they need for the flight; they just fly.  And sure enough, God guides them to food they need, as they need it.

photo credit: Britannica Online Encyclopedia

And the knowledge of the fact that butterflies don't worry about future provisions made me then think of General McClellan.  George McClellan was a Union general, and not President Lincoln's favorite, to put it nicely.   He felt McClellan was too slow to move, and too slow to act when it came to engaging the Confederates.  And part of the reason for that, was all the supplies McClellan insisted on.  Lincoln felt that McClellan ~ and other Union commanders ~ would move faster if they had fewer supplies.  "You would be better off," he said, "for not having a thousand wagons, doing nothing but hauling forage to feed the animals that draw them, and taking at least two thousand men to care for the wagons and the animals, who otherwise might be two thousand good soldiers."

To Lincoln, having too much in the way of provisions was not a good use of their men and materiel.  He felt it was wiser to travel lighter, allowing the army to travel faster.

photo credit: history.com

So.... how lightly are you traveling? What's important to you in your life?  How much does it take for you to feel secure... provided for...  And who are you trusting for what you will need?

The truth is, we generally feel we need a whole lot more than we actually need.  Physically, we think we need more in the way of material goods, than we actually do.  Emotionally and physically, we are carrying around anxieties, guilt and other burdens that are weighing us down. 

We need to trust Him more, I think, to give us what we need when we need it.   That's what it means to recognize Him as provider.  Knowing He'll give us what we need, without giving us what we don't need.

So don't decide for Him that you need more than you need.  You're just weighing your life down.  And the journey is hard enough!

~ "Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; 

as it is written, 

'He gave them bread from heaven to eat' " ~

John 6:31