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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