God’s Double Delight

My favorite rose is Double Delight. The aroma is like no other. It is the only rose I plant in my garden. I can’t have too many.

Sometimes God gives us double delights with sweet gifts of loving reminders of His presence. He meets us where we are even when where we are is in the dumps. This is where I was several years ago when I was having one of those mornings: tired, stressed, in a bad mood, and ultimately angry about nothing and about everything. The morning kept getting worse.

Finally, I thought I have to get out of my office and get fresh air. I walked, well, sort of stormed out of my office and said out loud, “God, why am I so angry?” Just then, an enormous butterfly, like none I had ever seen, landed on the purple garlic plant just outside the door. It startled me. Yet it felt like a kiss, a butterfly kiss from my heavenly Father. I stopped, smiled, and laughed at myself for getting into such a negative state of mind. I was conscious that this was a delightful gift of God to remind me of His presence. I went back to work, calm and at peace.

Sometimes God gives us double delights with sweet gifts of loving reminders of His presence...and He meets us where we are.

The following week, I attended a conference and met with a young woman who was helping attendees with their social media presence. I told her I love to share spiritual applications from daily life events in my monthly blog. I started to share a story from one of my blogs when I suddenly switched to the butterfly story, which I hadn’t shared with anyone. I barely got the word butterfly out of my mouth when she stopped me. “What color was the butterfly?” she asked. “It was yellow. I felt it was God’s gift to me as a reminder of his presence.” Her eyes immediately filled with tears. Startled, I asked what was wrong? Barely able to speak she told me her husband was ill. She almost canceled the conference. She had asked God for a sign—not any sign—the sign of a yellow butterfly. Now I was crying. Social media was no longer important. We held hands and prayed. This was God’s double delight. I thought the butterfly was for me, but God had a greater purpose. The true gift was for my new friend, who needed reassurance of God’s presence.

Often, we don’t have the joy of knowing where the story of our blessings and God’s gifts land, but every once in a while, God gives us firsthand experience. We experience a double delight of His presence in our lives and in the life of another.