Epiphany Brought on By a Butterfly

No matter what situation I have found myself in, in life I have found that there are always numerous changes that accompany new experiences. Hiking for three months in the Appalachian Mountains has brought forth many changes in my life. And I can describe them as increases and decreases. Here’s what I’ve noticed:

Increase – appetite
Decrease – weight
Increase – physical endurance
Decrease – health of feet
Increase – metabolism
Decrease – variety of available and tasty food
Increase – girth of my calves
Decrease – avg. # of showers/wk
Increase – thoughts of my family
Decrease – normal everyday life stressors

I could go on for quite some time, but one of the most meaningful and noticeable changes in my life has been an increase in my faith in God. I want to share a story with you about one particular issue that I ran into – which brought forth a growth in my overall faith in God.

To tell this story I’m going to start near the beginning: Megan (my hiking partner) and I, began our Appalachian Trail hike on a beautiful, sunny day – April 4th of this year. We had mixed emotions about the hike, but overall we were excited and committed to the challenge before us. For the next couple of days we had perfect weather for hiking – 60 degree days, blue sky, nice breeze, cool nights to sleep. The beginning was good.

But day four was the day I noticed a short sharp pain in my R Achilles tendon as I hiked up the mountains. Downhill the pain was not noticeable, uphill the pain exploded. It wasn’t long before I noticed my R Achilles had swollen to twice the size of my L one. Days passed, miles disappeared - I soon began limping on the down slopes, as well as, the ascensions. So bad was my pain, that at every stream and spring location along the trail, I stopped, took off my sock and boot, and soaked my R foot for twenty minutes or so to ease the swelling.

Upon the good advice from some fellow hikers, we decided to take a day off of the trail to rest, ice, elevate. Knowing that an Achilles problem could result in the end of my dream to finish the A.T. I fervently iced every hour for twenty minutes, all day.

It was Easter Sunday when we got back on the trail. As soon as we set foot on the trail my heart sank, the pain was still there, as bad as it was before. Megan hiked on ahead to our evening destination since I was gimping along. I immediately sank into self-pity as I trudged along at a snails pace. I was angry, I was worried, I was hurting. I was completely self-absorbed with my injury.

As I hiked, I noticed a butterfly flutter through my field of view. I remember thinking “how beautiful”. Just for an instant I left those selfish thoughts of myself, but quickly returned to my uncomfortable situation. Then a shadow swooped over me and glided past. I looked up and noticed a hawk gliding on the thermals. “Wow!” I thought “Wouldn’t it be nice to be a bird. I bet birds don’t have Achilles problems”. I look back down to the trail in front of me and the butterfly was still there. Which instantly brought forth a memory from college.

I was sitting in my entomology class with my classmates and my professor. My professor, Dr. Goff was getting ready to explain metamorphosis. Right in the middle of his explanation of how a caterpillar turns into a butterfly, he stopped and looked at us and said, “Not one scientist past or present has figured out what exactly happens inside of that chrysalis when that caterpillar changes into the butterfly. All we know is that the protein structure and physiology is completely different between the two organisms.” I was amazed that science has not revealed this secret, but I remember also feeling comfort in knowing that there is a greater power than humanity. And that I serve that greater power.

The butterfly on the trail brought back that memory and all of a sudden it was like a key had unlocked my self-centered tunnel vision and I could see beyond my pain. God was much bigger than my problem. He had cleared everything from my calendar months before so that I could hike the Appalachian Trail, and I knew he wasn’t going to throw something into the mix that would hinder this trip. All I needed to do was put forth a little trust in the maker of the Heavens and the Earth. A verse came to me ( I Peter 2:24) “By His stripes, you are healed”. I said it aloud over and over, I claimed that promise and reminded God of all the little things he had done to prepare me for the Appalachian Trail and I continued to limp along the path in pain.

Later, Megan expresses her concern about the condition of my Achilles. Maybe you need to take a week off, or a couple days. You can catch up later. I considered it, yet at the same time, I believed God would heal me. He promised to.

I didn’t heal immediately, in fact, I had to endure another week of pain, but I talked to God daily, claiming his promise and reminding him of the miracles that got me where I was that very day. And believe it or not, my R Achilles tendon slowly began to heal as I hiked. The terrain was not getting easier, the miles weren’t being shaved off of our days to accommodate the injury, my Lord was healing me. Mid-stride, about a week after my butterfly epiphany, my Achilles tendon was completely healed. And there is no other explanation except that God chose to take away my pain. What a miracle!

I grew a lot from that experience – God has proven over and over through other similar experiences that he is our sustainer. There are many things I can not control out there in the mountains, but I’m relieved that I serve a God who is my dry spot when I am wet, my food when I am hungry, and my healer when I am in pain.