Struggles
A man found a cocoon of an emperor moth. He took it home so that he could watch the
moth come out of the cocoon. On the day a small opening appeared, he sat and watched
the moth for several hours as the moth 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 farther. It just seemed to be stuck. Then the man, in
his kindness, decided to help the moth, so he took a pair of scissors and snipped
off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The moth then emerged easily.
But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the
moth 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 little moth spent the rest of its life crawling
around with a swollen body and shriveled 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 moth to get through the tiny opening were
God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the moth into its wings so that it would
be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon. Freedom and flight
would only come after the struggle. By depriving the moth of a struggle, he deprived
the moth of health.
Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If God allowed us to go
through our life without any obstacles, He would cripple us. We would not be as
strong as what we could have been.
How true this is! How many times have we wanted to take the quick way out of
struggles and difficulties, to take those scissors and snip off the remaining bits
in an attempt to be free. We need to remember that our loving Father will never
give us more than we can bear and through our trials and struggles we are
strengthened as gold is refined in the fire.
"May we never let the things we can't have, or don't have, or shouldn't have, spoil
our enjoyment of the things we do have and can have."
Don't focus on the things you DON'T have, enjoy each moment of every day God has
given you. This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in
it. So let's take today, even with its struggles and make it a good day ... our
loving Father God has given this day to me to use as best I can. The struggles of
life won't go away, but remember that God is allowing us to go through it for a reason.
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