by Jasmine Tosseth-Smith, NACWE Spiritual Coordinator 

When you think of a cocoon you think of the silky outer layer that caterpillars form around themselves to protect themselves as they grow into fully grown, beautiful butterflies inside. The cocoon keeps them protected as they grow.

Embrace The Cocoon – For many of us a cocoon represents self-protection. A place, a space, or an attitude of “I need to get away and protect myself”

🤔 How many of you are like me and have created the woman you are to cocoon the hurting child within?

🤔 How many of you, like me, have spun layers and layers of protection around your heart and your soul?

🤔 How many of you, have done what I did and have spent years building the cocoon, but have neglected the REAL work of the cocoon – to protect the growth happening on the inside?

I’ve spent so much time putting up the protection, that I have forgotten that the whole point was for the little girl cocooned on the inside to grow and emerge fully formed and beautiful on the other side.

Embrace The Cocoon – There is a massive amount of growth and transformation that happens in the cocoon. 

 Growth can be challenging.

 Growth can make you face realities you would otherwise like to forget.

 Growth can have you, like it did me last night, weeping and sobbing uncontrollably on the couch in your living room.

But… Embrace The Cocoon

 Growth is also about finding strength in the One that gave you the crown you rock.

 Growth is about doing the work of shedding the layers and layers of silky cocoon as you grow stronger in your faith, in your resolve, in your mindset and heart state.

 Growth is about using the cocoon as intended – as a quiet space to work through, process and focus on your growth.

Going through the Color Your Soul 21 day Soul Detox work had me fearing the darkness of the cocoon. I felt like my cocoon was a deep dark abyss from which I could not escape. As I free-falled into the seeming darkness something glinting caught my eye. As I fell, so the glinting object fell with me. In desperation I cried out, no screamed out, “God please promise me you will catch me!! Promise me!” Despite my long long fall, I landed gently, into His arms and He handed me the glinting object…it was my crown.

I feared falling into the abyss. I feared losing control. Holy Spirit reminded me that I was already free-falling in an abyss that was making me feel depression and anxiety and self-loathing while I was trying to maintain control. It came to a point where I just couldn’t do it on my own and I fell.

The difference this time, is that instead of falling into the despair of feeling suicidal again, I fell into the cocoon of HIS arms where healing and growth DO actually happen.

His darkness was not menacing, instead it was a quiet gentle retreat in which He lay me down beside cool pastures and started the work of restoring my soul.

The cocoon HE created for me is not one that is meant to consume me and hold me in, but one that is meant to incubate me and ready me to break out healed and whole.

The cocoon I had built for myself, I built as a prison of self-protection. Last night as I wept, I chose to break free and embrace the cocoon of my God-given crown and allow Holy Spirit to do His healing and growth work in me. I stunted my growth when I built the cocoon on my own. I used all the wrong materials – fear, anxiety, shame, guilt, pride, perfectionism and busyness to name a few.

But God! Embrace The Cocoon

All glory be to Him who is able by His mighty power at work within us to do abundantly more than we could ever imagine. More than we could dare to think, pray or ask for!!

Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning! Not as a Phoenix forged in fire, but as a butterfly clothed in His grace, His truth, His all-consuming kindness and depth of His love!

#EmbraceTheCocoon

Jasmine Tosseth Smith

NACWE Spiritual Coordinator

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“For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14