StRuGgLiNg

There is a story about a man who kept watching a cocoon.  The man knew a butterfly would emerge, but it seemed to take forever. Finally, being impatient and wanting to free the struggling insect, he took a knife and split the cocoon.

     The butterfly was born, but it could not fly. The man had prevented a very necessary struggle that the butterfly needed.  That struggle forces body juices into the insect’s wings, giving it strength to fly.

     Perhaps there is a lesson for us in the story. Those who have had some great struggles in life are often better for enduring the difficulties.  Losses, rejection, disabilities and disappointments can teach us patience, strengthen us spiritually, and make us better, kinder humans.

  “...we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

 Romans 5:3-5