I have a friend who has been doing through a fairly dark time in her life. It’s the type of situation where you start to question everything – what you’re doing with your life, your relationships, who your friends are, and what you believe.
In times like this, it can be very hard to see God working in your life or have any sense that He loves you. But He definitely wants you to know that He does.
God often works in ways that we don’t expect. Sometimes we look for a clear sign in the sky that he’s there, but it is amazing to me how He uses people in His Kingdom to bring hope to His children (regardless of where they are on their journey). It is often surprising to me how simple things like following a nudge or impression can bring hope, inspiration, and draw people closer together.
Over the weekend, my friend came home from the hospital after needing to have a surgical procedure done. I decided to send her an arrangement of flowers from a group of us, and after browsing the website of a local florist, I landed on a bright yellow selection that looked like it would brighten her day (called “Heart of Gold”, ironically, which this person most definitely has).
Before I checked out , however, a number of “add-ons” came up, and one of them was an artificial monarch butterfly. I had a subtle impression that it should be added to the arrangement, but I wasn’t sure why. It’s not usually my style to purchase “extras” when buying flowers (they are expensive enough), but it wasn’t an expensive add-on, and it made me smile. So, I added it and didn’t give it a second thought.
Today, she got the flowers, and here’s where things get interesting. It turns out that while my friend was in the hospital, one morning around 4 AM, she went on Amazon.com and ordered two packets of milkweed seeds that she was going to plant along the river she lives on. The reason? To attract monarch butterflies. It turns out that monarch butterflies only lay their eggs on milkweed, and their caterpillars only eat milkweed! This plant is absolutely essential for their survival.
Here’s the picture, though – imagine a person alone in the dark after surgery. She’s been through some rough times, and is in a lot of pain. There’s worry (let’s face it, you’re not up at 4 AM because everything’s hunky dory). Maybe there are prayers asking whether or not things are going to be OK . In the midst of that, she decides to purchase seeds that will undoubtedly help the monarch butterfly just on a whim.
Meanwhile, there’s people trying to bless her and cheer up, and one of them gets the impression that a monarch butterfly should be part of the arrangement of flowers. There’s no explanation for it, but the click is made and it shows up on the arrangement.
Some might attribute this to coincidence, but that’s hard for me to believe. The number of times I have discussed butterflies with this friend is zero. I didn’t know she had ordered the milkweed seeds or that monarch butterflies were on her heart. All I had was an impression to go on.
Ask yourself this key question, though: if you find inspiration in simply reading this story, how much more hope would a story like this bring you if it HAPPENED to you?
I am convinced that all of this was no accident, that God was there pulling the strings to bring about His purposes, to show His children how amazing He really is and how he cares for us. Sending flowers to my friend would have a blessing to her to be sure, but God took it up a notch. He took a blessing and turned it into a miracle.
We shouldn’t be surprised by this. After all, that’s His character.
People either forget or don’t believe God still speaks to people today, but He does, and when He does, it’s important that we listen even if it doesn’t make sense. But, if your heart is in the right place and you get a warm feeling\impression about doing something you wouldn’t normally do, trust that’s from God and watch what happens.
I again find myself in awe of my Creator…all because of adding a butterfly.