The Secret of the Butterfly

"A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day he saw a small opening in the cocoon. 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 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. He continued to watch the butterfly, because he 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. It was never able to fly.


What he had done in his well intentioned kindness and haste and what he did not understand, was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required 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.


Sometimes, struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If nature allowed us to go through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as we could have been, and we could never fly."

I love that story...it's a reminder to me to keep working through my struggles, even though it hurts and sometimes I really can't stand it. This story also reminds me of God...in the third paragraph, the author briefly mentions how God designed the butterfly a certain way so that it would be strong and succeed in life. And God designed me too!!! He knows exactly what I need to make it through life...and even though right now I kinda feel like I'm in my own little "coccoon", I know God has a reason for that.

Everything in life has a reason and purpose...and right now I need these hard times to learn and grow. I'm learning to understand myself more and also others. Thanks God. :]