Encouragement — Parable of the Butterfly

A young mother and father found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. They sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little opening. Then it seemed like the butterfly stopped making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could, and it could go no further. So to help the butterfly, the young wife (with the husbands encouragement) took a pair of small scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily, however, it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.

The pair continued to watch the butterfly because they expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand 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. Sadly, it never was able to fly and become the butterfly God intended.

What the young couple, in their 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 achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives. If God allowed us to go through life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not become molded as God intended, and we would not develop to become the person that God designed. We could never fly!

I asked for Strength.........And God gave me Difficulties to make me strong.
I asked for Wisdom.........And God gave me Problems to solve.
I asked for Prosperity......And God gave me Brain and Brawn to work.
I asked for Courage.........And God gave me Danger to overcome.
I asked for Love......And God gave me Troubled people to help.
I asked for Favors.......And God gave me Opportunities.

I received nothing I wanted, just everything I needed!

I pray your feet will never stumble out of God's plan and that you gain Wisdom and grow in the Lord everyday.

Author Unknown