The Story of the Butterfly-Author Unknown
A man found a cocoon of a butterfly.
One day a small opening appeared.
He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours
as it struggled to squeeze its body through the tiny hole.
Then it stopped, as if it couldn’t go further.
So the man decided to help the butterfly.
He took a pair of scissors and
snipped off the remaining bits of cocoon.
The butterfly emerged easily but
it had a swollen body and shriveled wings.
The man continued to watch it,
expecting that any minute the wings would enlarge
and expand enough to support the body,
Neither happened!
In fact the butterfly spent the rest of its life
crawling around.
It was never able to fly.
What the man in his kindness
and haste did not understand:
The restricting cocoon and the struggle
required by the butterfly to get through the opening
was a way of forcing the fluid from the body
into the wings so that it would be ready
for flight once that was achieved.
Sometimes struggles are exactly
what we need in our lives.
Going through life with no obstacles would cripple us.
We will not be as strong as we could have been
and we would never fly.
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Many times I have heard people ask the same question. I have even asked it myself. That question is phrased in different ways, but the idea is always this: why do bad things happen to good people? The story of the butterfly is one answer to this question. This idea of this story is seen over and over in nature- it is also true of a chick attempting to hatch from its egg. The struggle is what makes the baby strong and able to survive as an adult. James 1:2-4 tells us, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” One reason God allows struggles into our lives is so that we can mature in our faith.
Another reason for struggles in our lives is to remind us that we are weak and we need to rely on God. His power is shown to its fullness when He accomplishes things through us. In 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, God tells Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Paul’s response is to tell us, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
When the struggles of this life hit you, remember the butterfly. Look at those trials as ways to pump you full of life saving blood and thank God in the midst of them. Watch the amazing ways He can use the bad to bring about the good. Although I’ve had many struggles in my life, I can honestly thank Him for what He has done in my life because of, not in spite of, them!
Have a blessed day!
Cellebrate Life 