Let Go of Your Past: Dropping Your Hindrances, Being Transformed, and Standing StrongSample

Metamorphosis

Yesterday, I described a meeting that I held with our ministry team leaders in the midst of the overwhelming season we were experiencing, personally, as a church, and as members of our community. I left the meeting realizing that I had spoken about our “cocoon” and “metamorphosis” out of prophetic revelation; but frankly, I wasn’t sure how all the pain of our past cocoon was yielding a glorious new future for our church or for myself, for that matter. I spent the next few months meditating on the word metamorphosis and praying for practical insights into leading our teams forward to embrace the reality of this transformation.

Being Transformed

The apostle Paul pioneered this spiritual concept of our divine metamorphosis when he declared, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). The Greek word for “transformed” in this verse is metamorphoō, from which we get our English words transfigured and transformed. This verse teaches us that metamorphosis begins in our minds. Or, more accurately, in our thought life. We must leave caterpillar mindsets, earthly, finite, limited thinking, and begin to embrace a heavenly mindset based on the superior reality of our transcended position in Christ.

Metaphorically speaking, we are the butterfly, who does not leave the cocoon of darkness bruised or battered by his past ugly life, relegated to the dirt of his earthly existence. No! Instead, bearing no resemblance to his former life of dust and filth, he rises in the glory of his majestic wings and catches the currents of his heavenly call. He lives with no regrets of his former condition, realizing intuitively that it was the caterpillar that became the cocoon and provided the womb of metamorphosis necessary for divine transfiguration that ultimately yielded the wings of the dawn of a new era.

Living in Transcended Reality

In fact, Paul went on to explain to the Colossians the practical aspects of metamorphosis:

Therefore, if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. (Colossians 3:1–4)

My mind explodes with possibility as I meditate on this concept of processing our worldly challenges from the position of our heavenly seat, thinking future-present and not reacting to the troubles of earth but responding in the authority of transcended reality. What would it be like to live from heaven to earth, leaving the limitations of the perspective of the caterpillar, who views life crawling on his belly? How would it feel to fly above the problems of life, to be able to detach from earth long enough to view the world through the Father’s eyes? Can you imagine letting go of the pain of the past and embracing His promise of prosperity?

At this point, you might be thinking that I’m so heavenly-minded that I’m no earthly good. Or maybe that this is hyper-spiritual thinking that isn’t relevant to everyday life. I get it! I also understand that life is challenging and that many people escape into a fantasy or live in denial. They end up out of touch with reality and exist irresponsibly. I’m not suggesting that we detach from reality, but that we view our earthly existence from a more accurate perspective. This will likely cause us to question the reality of our powerless perspective and thus lead us to become “solutionaries” who tap into “Spiritategies” (my term for “Spirit-led strategies”) and the power of the age to come.

The Bible is filled with stories of everyday people who experienced heavenly solutions for impossible situations because they lived with a great awareness of the Spirit realm. I want to challenge you to begin the metamorphosis by allowing God to transform your darkness into a cocoon that will give way to His Spirit’s work in your life.

One of the ways we can live future-present instead of past-present is to let go of the hindrances in our lives that may once have been beneficial but now just weigh us down. Over the next several days, I will guide you through what I have learned about dropping those hindrances so you can reach higher and live in God’s transcended purposes.

Thought: We must leave caterpillar mindsets, earthly, finite, limited thinking, and begin to embrace a heavenly mindset based on the superior reality of our transcended position in Christ.

Prayer: Father, help me to transform my mindset, leaving the limitations of the caterpillar and flying above the problems of life, viewing the world and my circumstances through Your eyes.