Wednesday, May 5, 2010

The Story of the Butterfly (Author Unknown)

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly.  One day a small opening appeared.  He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to squeeze its body through the tiny hole. 

Then it stopped, as if it couldn’t go further.  So the man decided to help the butterfly.  He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bits of cocoon.  The butterfly emerged easily but it had a swollen body and shriveled wings. 

The man continued to watch it,  expecting that any minute the wings would enlarge and expand enough to support the body,  Neither happened!  In fact the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around. It was never able to fly.

What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand: The restricting cocoon and the struggle required by the butterfly to get through the opening was a way of forcing the fluid from the body into the wings so that it would be ready  for flight once that was achieved.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives. Going through life with no obstacles would cripple us.  We would not be as strong as we could have been and we would never fly!!


“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”   (James 1:2-4)



“Today really is the first
day of the rest of your
life and in this moment
you can begin to
make it magnificent.”
- J. Sewell Perkins