The Butterfly

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly with a small opening appearing on it. He sat and watched the small life for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could, and it could go no further. 

After a long wait, the man decided to help the butterfly. Taking a pair of scissors, the man snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon and the butterfly emerged easily. However, on close scrutiny, he noted that the butterfly had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. 

The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time.
Hours passed, neither of the expected happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shrunken wings. It never was able to fly.

What the man in his kindness and haste, did not understand was that the ‘restricting cocoon’ and the ‘struggle’ required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were 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 achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

Final Thoughts;
God didn't promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow, or sun without rain, but He did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears, and light for the way.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives. If God allowed us to go through our lives without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. We could never fly!