Life's Struggles
One day a man found the cocoon of a butterfly, with a small
opening just starting to appear. So, he sat down to watch as
the butterfly struggled for several hours to force its body
through the hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress.
It appeared to the man that it had gotten as far as it could.
Then the man decided to help the butterfly, so he took a pair
of scissors and snipped the remaining bit of the cocoon. The
butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and
small shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly
because he expected, at any moment, the wings would enlarge
and the body would contract, so it could fly -- but neither
happened. Sadly, the butterfly spent the rest of it's life
crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It
was never able to fly, or be a truly beautiful butterfly.
What the man in his well meaning kindness and haste did not
understand, was that the restricting cocoon, and the struggle
required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening, was
God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly, into
its wings, so that it would be ready for flight once it got out
of the cocoon.
Sometimes, like the butterfly, the struggles we go through in
life are necessary, although we usually don't understand why.
If God allowed us to go through life without any obstacles,
it could hurt our growth. Then we would not be as strong as we
should be -- and it could keep us from soaring to the wonderful
heights that HE has planned for you and me.
Addendum -- Hebrews 12:11 (NIV) "No discipline seems
pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on,
however, it produces a harvest of righteousness
and peace for those who have been trained by it."
[ Anonymous -- from Roma ]
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