Randy & Aaron

www.truthworks.com                 11 MAR 05                 devotion archive

STRUGGLES

I tell you the Truth,

There is a story about a man who found a caterpillar cocoon and was so intrigued when he saw a small opening appear that he sat and watched the cocoon for hours.  A small butterfly struggled for hours to try and force its body through the little hole.

At one point, it seemed to stop making any progress.  The butterfly seemed to have squeezed as far as it possibly could and didn’t seem to be going any further.  The man then decided to help, so he took a pair of scissors and snipped away the remaining cocoon and the butterfly emerged easily.

But the freed butterfly had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.  The man continued to watch expecting the wings to dry and expand and the body to contract over a little time.

But neither one happened.  In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life with the swollen body and shriveled wings.  It never flew.

While the man's kindness was understandable, he didn’t understand that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God’s way of forcing fluid into the wings so that it would be ready for flight once it was free from the cocoon.

If God allowed us to go through life with no obstacles, no struggles, we would become crippled in our faith and in our walk.  It’s through adversity that we are pushed to persevere.  And all of us will face trials of many kinds – I promise you, all people face struggles.

Actually, I find two distinctive reasons in God’s word for our struggles.

James 1:
2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

12Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

The Christian who perseveres through struggles is blessed and strengthened through the process by the hand of God.  But there is an even greater reason for God allowing us to endure struggles.

2 Corinthians 1:
3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. 6If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

Because I have endured struggles of many kinds and have experienced the comforting of the Holy Spirit, I am then able to share that comfort with others who struggle with similar things.  There is a bond that grows from the sharing of struggles that we could never experience if we had never enduring the same distress.

Remember the butterfly.  Our lives are very similar in the that our struggles make us stronger and prepare us for God’s good work.
 
Without struggles we could never fly.

Randy Hunt
randy@truthworks.com
2TIM 1:7

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