At one point in the movie The Hobbit Gandalf, Bilbo and the dwarves are all trapped in a tree slowly tipping over a cliff while hordes of orcs are attacking. The situation looks hopeless but then, amid all the chaos, Gandalf spots a butterfly that has landed on the tree. He calls the butterfly to himself and whispers to it and it flies off. A few minutes later the situation has worsened and dwarves are about to start falling off the tree to their death. Just as the first dwarf falls off the tree a giant eagle swoops down and rescues the falling dwarf. The butterfly has summoned a convocation of eagles which comes and ravages the orcs and rescues Gandalf, Bilbo and all the dwarves. We too can experience the butterflies of God’s power.
This story is a good illustration of how the Holy Spirit often comes to us. In the midst of a situation that seems void of God’s activity a still small sign of his presence appears. Our role is to keep the faith and stay alert to any signs that may appear. When we see a sign then we can embrace and receive the grace God is giving.
The Spirit may come in a small way but in the end a butterfly becomes a convocation of eagles that destroys the barriers to God’s power in our lives. Our mustard seed of faith becomes a channel that moves mountains.
But the Spirit’s coming is often fragile like a butterfly. We cannot grab it and we cannot force it. We learn to be gentle with the move of the Spirit. Our willfulness and grasping only quench the Spirit. We need to meet his Spirit with our spirit, for I Corinthians 2:14 states that the “things of the Spirit…are spiritually discerned”.
Our spiritual faculties are weak by nature but if we practice tuning in to the small signs of the Spirit, and acting on them, then our spiritual faculties will grow strong. We don’t need to strain to see them rather we relax and flow with our spirit in his Spirit. Our only “strain” is the decision to walk in faith, not by sight. The “things that are unseen are eternal”, (II Corinthians 4:18).
We were made to walk in the Spirit. John 3:8 states: “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” We are to live like the wind, and move with the Spirit.
I write this to teach myself for it is not natural, especially if we don’t feel the presence of God. But the butterfly will come, we just need to see with spiritual eyes.
When it appears that God is moving, do you try to grasp it or let it flow? Can you let a small impression remain small but important?
