The Struggle Was Necessary
Philippians 1:6
“Being confident of this very thing, that he which has begun a good work in you will complete it as the day of Christ Jesus approaches.”
One warm summer Shady Dale evening, a man sat rocking on his porch and sipping some sweet tea. He looked in the corner and noticed a commotion against one of the columns. As he looked closer, he saw a cocoon rapidly moving and shaking. Slowly, a small hairline cracked appeared in the cocoon and eventually it spread until a small hole was visible.
Mesmerized by what he was witnessing, the man got up and scooted his rocker closer to the action. Nothing this interesting had taken place in his neck of the woods since Pete down the road turned his tractor over trying to text and mow last Tuesday.
Once he got settled into a better view, there were some bent yet beautiful wings piercing through the small hole. The winged butterfly was struggling bad trying to get out of that tiny hole and finally be free. After a few minutes of what he thought was pure torture, the man placed his tea on the porch floor and jumped up from that rocker. He had enough!
He walked over, took his two index fingers and pried that cocoon open until the butterfly had a way of escape. But just then, the butterfly flopped to the floor of that porch really close to his tea.
He rubbed on the butterfly, pushed on the butterfly and even tried to blow on the butterfly but nothing he tried made it fly. So, he put the butterfly in a mason jar and took him down to the biology department of the local university.
Once he got there, it didn’t take a long examination for the professor to notice the problem. The residue from the cocoon state was still on the butterfly’s wings. So, he asked the man, “What did you do?”
The man told his story and the professor stopped him by saying, “you made a grave mistake.” The professor informed the man that when the butterfly is struggling to escape the cocoon, the struggle removes all of the residue that will serve as dead weight should he attempt to fly.
Someone reading this week’s Monticello News needs to know that your struggle is molding your character and making you stronger. I know you would rather find the easy button and meander through this life with no issues, no pains and no adverse situations.
God never promised that, but what he did promise is that he would never leave you. Keep flapping your wings. Keep moving. Don’t quit. Don’t give up and never stop. You may not be the fastest, sharpest, richest or best in others’ eyes, but you are being developed. I believe that your best season is still ahead. You’ve been in the cocoon long enough….it’s time for you to float and fly!
PRAYER OF THE DAY:
“Dear Lord, you started a good work in me. Sometimes it doesn’t feel good to me, but I know it’s working for me. So I refuse to curse my struggle. Thank you for scraping off the old, sharpening me in the present and shaping me for greater use in my future.
In Jesus’ Name…Amen!”