SUSTENANCE IN THE COCOON

"A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials." - Lucius Annaeus Seneca

A man found a butterfly's cocoon. One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through a tiny opening on the cocoon. Then it seemed to stop making any progress, appearing as if it had gotten as far as it could. 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. He 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. The butterfly spent the next couple of minutes crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It could never fly. What the man, in his kindness and haste, did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the butterfly's struggle 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.

Many people have developed a wrong mindset about life. They believe that difficulty is a sign of "badness" or that a project shouldn't be embarked on. Many others believe, that if God's truly in your life, then you should not encounter any problem. So, at the slightest experience of struggle we pray for God to take it away, or bring us out. A friend's parents told him, he needed deliverance because he was going through so much. Is that really true? It's a wrong mindset.

Many times difficulties, and burdens are exactly what we need in our lives to deliver us. We'd never grow if God allowed us to go through life without obstacles. Without obstacles we'd never be able to develop wings strong enough to fly. We could never fly. The scriptures tell us that, the "Lord,...shall sustain thee:" in trouble, because even Jesus learned from the things he suffered. Hardships are there to mould us into stronger individuals. Life is constantly about overcoming challenges, it's only through tough times that we attain our true identity and personality. We're assured that through our struggles God is with us. Dirt is good!