Monday, August 20, 2018

Firefly Freedom


                                                          

 Firefly Freedom




As a kid, I loved to capture fireflies in a quart Mason jar on hot summer nights.  I’d put some food, (grass), along with a bottle cap of water at the bottom so they wouldn’t realize that they were trapped. But, I don’t think they bought it. Their little glowy bottoms would light-up as they hit the sides of the imposed glass universe. If I forgot to release them, I’d find them lifeless in a short amount of time.  In their captivity I bet that they longed to be free. Free to be the bug they were created to be.  To fly, to glow, to live their short lives in full unfettered freedom.

 Isn’t that true for all of us? This old world sometimes makes us feel trapped, like we too are in jars.  Some of us are assigned to big jars, and others find themselves in very small ones, but we’re all restricted by age, health, intelligence. etc. God got me thinking about this today as I was praying for a family who recently lost their youngest child.  I didn’t know Elizabeth, but from all the loving tributes, she must have had a luminous, yes, I might even say glowy personality. Elizabeth was one of those who found themselves in a pint jar. Born with heart problems, she endured numerous surgeries throughout her brief 17 years.  Each hospitalization must have brought untold anxiety to her loving family, but she persisted in glowing inside that cramped space.  While her friends and classmates, in the big jars, ran and played, jumped and skipped, Elizabeth watched them longingly, pressing herself up against the clear walls of her prison..  “When will I be free from this jar?”, she’d wonder.  “I don’t hate this little space, but oh how I’d love to skip, run and fly.”  The day finally came when God, in His infinite wisdom, unscrewed the ring, and Elizabeth took to the skies.  Free at last to do everything she’d seen done, but could never accomplish.  No more pain, no more worries, every torment replaced with strength and wholeness in the stop of a heartbeat.

 Does this promise of freedom take away the pang of loss? Sadly no, or at least not right away.  As I age, I find my container decreasing in size, so too will  her parents, as they grow older. Maybe it’s simplistic, but I think that God has us all on a time schedule. The closer we get to our last day, we’ll peer out on the lively activity around us, and there will be a longing to be released. And one day we will be. My prayer for Elizabeth’s family, and all experiencing devastating loss, is that the peace, that only God can provide will surround you with joy knowing that your precious firefly is free and shining brightly as never before. A number of years ago, on another warm summer evening, I saw a sight I’d never seen before. Thousands, maybe even millions of fireflies had gathered over our hazy corn field. Close your eyes and imagine what all those glowy bottoms looked like, awesome.  Take heart, just like Elizabeth, that bright and glorious reunion of firefly souls awaits us all some beautiful freedom day! 
He brought me out into the open; He rescued me because He delighted in me. 2 Samuel 22:20


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