Zig-Zag

How do they get to where they are going? Do they even know where they are going? Perhaps they just go in the general direction of their destination and hope for the best. They certainly never travel in a straight line, not even for a few feet.

You’ve seen them; they look like drunken sailors as they fly from flower to flower. Seemingly no rhyme or reason for the way they fly. But somehow, someway they get to where they want to go. Don’t let all that zig-zagging fool you. These creatures know exactly where they are going and how to get there. The butterfly looks like a crazy creature but these little guys have a plan and a purpose.

Take its annual migration for instance. The North American Monarch migrates every year from deep southern Mexico to Canada and back. Let that sink in a moment. That tiny little thing that looks like it can barely make it to the next flower in your garden is actually on an extraordinary journey when you see it. Pretty clever for a bug that lives only a few months.

The whole migration is a wondrous event. It takes four generations of Monarchs to make it to Canada. The first generation begins in the winter and flies about 500 miles north where they will lay their eggs on milkweed plants. In a few days the eggs hatch into caterpillars. The caterpillars eat the milkweed, grow up in a couple of weeks then find a cozy spot to wrap themselves up into a chrysalis. During this 10 day period, when from the outside it seems as if nothing is happening, the caterpillar is going through its incredible metamorphosis becoming a delicate and beautiful butterfly.

This second generation Monarch then flies northward another 500 or so miles and the does the same thing laying eggs, creating the third generation. And the third does the same to create the fourth generation which is the generation which will fly into Canada. But this fourth generation is special. They are the real workhorses of the species. They don’t create a fifth generation. They will create next year’s first – back in Mexico.

The fourth generation of the migrating Monarch will live longer than his brethren. While his brothers and sisters live only 2 to 3 months, this last generation of the year will live 7 or 8. It will make the trip all the way from Canada back to Mexico after stopping to winter in warmer climates along its way home. Then in February and March it will lay the eggs for the first generation of next year’s migration.

How does it do what it does? How does the fourth generation know to fly home to Mexico? How does the first generation know to start flying north to Canada? Even if it knows where to go, how does it get there? It never flies in a straight line. It looks like its flying whichever way the wind blows.

But it’s not.

The Monarch has a plan and a purpose. That plan and purpose is built into it. They use their antennae and inner compass to help them. The Monarch has a goal in mind from the moment it hatches from its egg as a caterpillar. It will go through many life stages and travel many places along the way. It will zig and it will zag but it is always headed in the right direction. We see the Monarch in our gardens and think it cannot possibly get to where it is trying to go but don’t be fooled – it can get there from here.

And so can we.

Like the Monarch we have a built-in plan and a purpose. We have dreams and goals. And we have many life stages too. But our trouble is we let our life stages interrupt our plan and purpose. We don’t act like the Monarch and allow our stages and our own metamorphosis help us. We have a tendency to let them hang us up. And keep us in our first or second generation when we are miles from our destination.

But as the Monarch relies on their antennae and internal compass to help them find their way we must rely on our Inner Guide and Compass to lead us through and show us the way. The Monarch does not travel alone and neither do we. When Jesus left he told us He was leaving behind a Helper to teach us, guide us and get us to where we needed to go. (John 15:26). We need only rely on and trust our Helper to guide us to our destination. Our Compass will always point us in the right direction.

We fly crazy zig-zag patterns all day long and it looks like there is just no way to get there from here. But there is. We just have to act like a butterfly.
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