"Butterfly"

[WISDOM]

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 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 it 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.  The man 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!  In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings.  It never was able to fly.

What the man, in his kindness and haste, did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly 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 lives.  If GOD allowed us to go through our lives without any obstacles, it would cripple us.  We would NEVER be as strong as what we could have been.  We could NEVER fly!!

YOU ask for STRENGTH.....GOD gives you DIFFICULTIES to make you strong.

YOU ask for WISDOM......GOD gives you PROBLEMS to solve.

YOU ask for PROSPERITY.....GOD gives you a BRAIN and BRAWN to work.

YOU ask for COURAGE.....GOD gives you DANGER to overcome.

YOU ask for LOVE.......GOD gives you TROUBLED PEOPLE to help.

YOU ask for FAVORS.......GOD gives you OPPORTUNITIES.

YOU receive NOTHING you wanted.....YOU receive EVERYTHING you needed!!

*Philippians 4:19

**Christian bro/sis....the present circumstance which presses so hard against YOU is the BEST shaped tool in our FATHER's hand to chisel you for eternity.  You'll not understand pain until you understand that life IS NOT a pursuit of happiness, a search for ease, BUT is a training for greatness.  Just remember, there's a tremendous difference between suffering with CHRIST and suffering because of personal wrongdoing.

[Missy]

I have read this many times and it always gives me the same feeling every time. God is in full control, whether it seems like it or not. That gives me peace.

[RGR]

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