Struggles Are What We Need, Sometimes! by Myra Boozer

I have been thinking about struggles lately, maybe because I have had a few. I came across this story and it puts things into perspective...maybe it will help someone.

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 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. So, the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off 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 that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It was never 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 was essential. This 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 achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

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! Lord help me to not doubt the path you have chosen for me because you are working ALL things for my good, even in the struggles.

The days just ahead of us will present more challenges than we can imagine because darkness is hovering over this world. The Light of Jesus that you possess will be despised and rejected. It won't be easy to stand in the face of opposition. We will not stand in our own power but the power of our Almighty God!

1 Peter 1:7, "That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:"