Why?

A man was out walking in the woods one day and found the cocoon of a butterfly  attached to a small twig-like-branch.  Always wanting to watch the metamorphosis, he decided to take it home, branch and all.

One morning when checking on the cocoon, he noticed a small opening had appeared. The man sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole and out of its chrysalis.

Suddenly the butterfly stopped making progress. It looked like it was stuck. After several minutes the man decided to help the butterfly.

He took a pair of scissors and carefully snipped away the remaining bit of cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. Upon closer inspection the man noticed the butterfly had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.

Thinking nothing of it, he sat there waiting for the wings to enlarge to support the butterfly. That did not happen. The butterfly spent the rest of its life unable to fly, crawling around with tiny wings and a swollen body.

Despite the kind heart of the man, he did not understand that the restricting cocoon and the struggle needed by the butterfly to get itself through the small opening; were God’s way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings. To prepare itself for flying once it was out of the cocoon.

The struggle of each butterfly to emerge from its cocoon is believed to be crucial for strengthening its wings. As it pushes and struggles to break free, it pumps fluid into its wing veins, expanding and straightening them, which helps the wings become strong enough for flight.

Paul wrote: “…we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame...” Romans 5:3-5 ESV

What the man saw as a weak butterfly struggling to survive, was in fact very much needed for that creature to develop in the proper way. It’s the same with us.

James 1:2-4 “Count it all joy…when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” ESV

WOW!

There must be struggle. There must be trials.

Why?

To strengthen us.

Why?

To test us!

"In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 1:6-7 ESV

Our faith is more precious than gold.

Hebrews 11:6 tells us that “without faith it is impossible to please Him.”

What kind of faith? The verse goes onto explain: “whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him.”

The moral of the story is this: Our struggles in life develop our strengths. Our trials, if we allow them, develop our faith. Without struggles, we never grow and never get stronger. Perhaps without faith we would not seek Him.

Here is the bottom line. Psalm 34:19 tells us that "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all."

Let Jesus deliver you in His perfect timing.

by Jeanette Stark – Thursday, December 21, 2023