Metamorphosis Moments: When the Conditions Change

Have you ever felt stuck in a waiting season, wondering why your transformation isn't happening faster? This eye-opening episode explores the profound parallels between a butterfly's metamorphosis and your personal journey of change.

Through a beautiful story about eight rescued caterpillars, Coach Tara reveals powerful truths about divine timing and the purpose behind life's pauses. Just as butterflies emerge at different times and must wait for their wings to dry before flight, our transformation processes can't be rushed. What appears to be delay is often divine protection until conditions are right for you to soar.

The episode delves into the fascinating science of neuroplasticity—how your brain literally reorganizes during healing, creating fragile new pathways that need time to strengthen, much like a butterfly's wet wings. Whether you're in the vulnerable caterpillar stage, the hidden chrysalis phase where everything seems to be dissolving, or the frustrating in-between with wings not yet ready for flight, there's purpose in your position.

Drawing from Ecclesiastes 3:1 and personal insights, Coach Tara offers comfort for those in waiting seasons and hope for those who feel like their breakthrough has died. The most powerful revelation? Sometimes what looks like death is merely waiting for conditions to change. Trust not just the process, but the One who orchestrates the conditions.

Ready to reframe your waiting season? Listen now and discover why your story—including the pauses—is the blueprint for someone else's breakthrough. Subscribe to never miss a See-Shift weekly episode, and share this message with someone who needs encouragement during their transformation journey.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to Her Authentic Voice
• 1:36 The Story of Eight Caterpillars
• 4:17 The In-Between Space
• 6:52 Inside the Chrysalis: Neuroplasticity
• 9:03 Trust God's Timing
• 12:04 Episode Closing and Call to Action

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Hey, hey, it's your favorite Shift Your Story coach, Coach Tara, and you're listening to the Her Authentic Voice podcast. This is where faith meets real life, where shame gets silenced, and where your story becomes your strategy. Today we're kicking off a new teaching series called Shift Your Story from Cycles to Clarity. This series is for the woman who's tired of circling the same emotional mountains. Self-doubt, silence, codependency, spiritual confusion, you know what I mean. This woman is ready to get honest. She's ready to get clear. She's ready to get free. So we'll walk through prophetic truths. We'll walk through behavior patterns, emotional healing, and scriptural insight. So you can see your story clearly. So you can shift your behavior intentionally and honor your process without shame, okay? Can we say that? Without shame, okay? So today's episode is entitled, Drying Your Wings. drying your wings and you'll know why in a minute. Okay. Let's get into it. So not too long ago, my therapist shared a story with me and it really stuck with me. She said she didn't even know why she was sharing it. She's like, I don't even know why I did it or why I'm sharing it. And she's like, I hadn't told anyone. I'm going to tell you. So she had these carrots growing in her garden and on the carrots were eight caterpillars, eight y'all. Now I Not one, not two, eight. Eight means new beginnings. New beginnings. So I was already like tuned in. So she noticed how vulnerable they were as caterpillars, how exposed they were, how much they were at the mercy of the conditions around them. And she said, it's hot, you know, it's like too much heat. What's going to happen to them? And where are they going to go? Like, what's going to happen? So she decided to create a place for them to watch over them, which I thought was really cool, you know, and she watched them one by one go into their chrysalis. I found it so fascinating because she said they didn't all go in at the same time. Likewise, they didn't all come out at the same time. They didn't all emerge at the same time. But what did happen was all seven of them. Now, notice I said eight, but right now I'm saying seven. Seven left in the warm weather. But there was one that didn't. See, the temperature had dropped. And she said it got really cold. And we're here in Michigan where the weather goes up and down. So it can be freezing for two days. So she said it had dropped. And she thought, you know, that it had died. She was like, I thought it was a lost cause because it had been weeks. But listen. When the weather warmed back up, that butterfly blew out. It flew out. And another thing she told me was when the other butterflies, when they first emerged and they had their wings, she said the wings were wet. So it's not like they went from chrysalis to flying. She said they couldn't fly immediately because of the wet wings. They had to wait. They had to hang out in this in-between space and let their wings dry. And then they could take flight. So... I'm listening to her and at that time I feel the Holy Spirit like saying to me this is where you are you know and maybe this is where you are too you've been doing the work you've been hidden places where God has been transforming you from the inside out and you've emerged you know but your wings are still wet that's why certain things haven't taken off yet that's why Some doors are still closed. Maybe something that you put out there didn't pan out the way you had hoped. And I want to encourage you that it's not because you're failing and it's not because you are not where you're supposed to be. It's the opposite. You know, it's because the environment isn't right yet and your wings are wet. Your wings are wet. So you have to wait in that process and allow God to protect you from launching prematurely. It reminded me because I was in a place where I said, wait a minute, I am not stuck. I am in process. I am in process. So you may feel frustration about something that you're in or something you keep trying and you've prayed and you've planned and you stepped out in faith and you did all the things, but nothing is multiplying like you hoped. Nothing is quite working out the way you thought it would, you know? You're questioning, did I hear him right? You know, you've gotten the prophetic words and you believe the words. And then after so much time, you're like, was that right, Lord? Am I on it? Are you feeling me? Because it can be like that. But I just want you to know you haven't missed them. You know, just like those butterflies, your timing will not look like theirs. You know, your timing is not going to look like anyone's. God does not operate in our human construct of time. He doesn't operate in Kronos time. So you don't need to compare your journey to anyone else's. God has designed your process to match your capacity. He is creating the environment that will make sure your flight, quote unquote flight, is secure. So you're not behind. I'm not behind. We're right on time, you know. And think about that last one, that number eight, that my therapist thought was dead. You know, so sometimes you can think something is over. It can look like it's over. You can think that it expired, but God is preserving it for just the right conditions. And when the atmosphere shifts and when you're ready, you get to take off. Isaiah 43, 19, it says, Behold, I am doing a new thing. Now it springs forth. Do you not perceive it? That word, perceive, has been sitting with me because it's an invitation. Think about it. God is inviting us to become aware, to perceive, to become aware of what he's doing. So even when the fruit hasn't fully shown up yet, even when your wings aren't fully dry yet, your job right now isn't to force anything. It's to discern the season. That's your job. Don't try to force open a door. Don't try to force a relationship. Just discern the season you're in. And then you can rest. Just rest. While he's strengthening you. While he's downloading to you. You know, while you're waiting for your wings to dry. You know, just do that. And I also thought about... Another part to this, because chrysalis, it's just interesting because inside of it, the caterpillar, it literally dissolves like its body. It breaks down before it starts to reorganize into a butterfly. Isn't it like God, how he does us? Sometimes he literally gracefully breaks us down before he starts to reorganize and rebuild us into who we're supposed to become. And from the outside, it can look like nothing has happened or it can look dead. It can look forsaken, you know. But on the inside, transformation is taking place. So that reminds me, I am a behavior science-like nerd. And I just recently got my certification in behavior science. I enjoy it so much, and in psychology, my degree. And I enjoy it so much. This same thing happens in your brain. So when you go through trauma, when you go through healing, or even if you have a major life change, what happens is your brain starts to reorganize itself. And this process is called neuroplasticity. It is the ability of your brain to rewire and create new pathways. How cool is that? Like for real. This means that old survival patterns, they weaken and new ones slowly strengthen. But here's the key. New pathways are fragile at first, just like wings. You can't expect to fly immediately. And if you push yourself too soon, you may default back into old patterns. But if you give yourself space, safety, and repetition, I'll say that again. But if you give yourself space, safety, and repetition, those new pathways stabilize. And eventually, like the butterfly, you will soar. So what does this mean for you? It means don't complain so much. It means don't curse the waiting and where you are right now. It means don't despise this in-between middle place because we're always in the middle, right? We're going to find ourselves there. We're either ending something, beginning something new, or we're dab smack in the middle of something. So... Just enjoy your journey because each path, each part, each place, each condition that you find yourself in and exposed to matters. Everything works together for good. Everything. And also, there's a season for everything. Every single thing that happens in the world, there's a reason for it. Ecclesiastes chapter 3 verse 1 reminds us that for everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven. So think about that. Everything. It didn't say some things. It says for everything there is a season and a time for every matter. So we must be wise. with our dealings, wise in our walking and how we live and understand that we can't rush the process. There's wisdom in waiting. There is. There's purpose in the pause because sometimes we have to pause, right? There's purpose in that pause. God knows the right conditions. He knows the right environment. And he knows the right time for you to emerge. Okay? So I want you to ask yourself, number one, am I in a vulnerable stage, exposed and waiting? Am I there? Number two, am I in the hidden stage where it looks like nothing is happening? Or, Number three, am I in the drying stage where I've changed, but I'm not yet flying? Where are you? Because we're in these stages. We go in and out of these stages as the Lord takes us from faith to faith and from glory to glory. We go in and out of them. We're feeling vulnerable, being hidden, and then drying and emerging. for different assignments that he gives us here. So wherever you are, trust that God is still working, okay? Is that all right? Because what looks like a pause may just be his protection. Once those conditions shifts, girl, listen, when your wings are ready, you will fly. You will soar. I want to say a quick closing prayer. Father, I lift up the woman listening to me right now. She may feel frustrated. She may feel stuck. She may feel overlooked, oh God. But Father, I pray in the mighty name of Jesus that you remind her that she's not behind. That you remind her that transformation is happening even when she can't see it. Father, I pray that you teach her to rest in the in-between. Teach her to rest in the middle. Teach her to rest in you and trust your timing and to perceive the new thing that you're birthing in her life. Strengthen her wings, oh God, and prepare her for her journey, for her flight. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. And in closing, I just want to say this. You never know when the conditions will change. But you can trust the one who controls them. Okay? And if this episode spoke to you, share it with someone who needs encouragement. Leave a comment or review and engage with me. If you have a question, leave that. And remember, your story is the blueprint for someone else's breakthrough. And until next time, live, love, and be authentic.