Post by: Pastor Billy Shelton
A woman was watching a Cecropia Moth struggle to emerge from its Cocoon. In an effort to help—and not realizing the necessity of the struggle—the woman snipped the shell of the cocoon. Soon, the moth came out with its wings all crimped and shriveled, but as the woman watched, the wings remained weak. The moth, which in a few moments would have stretched its wings to fly, was now doomed to crawl on the ground for the rest of its life. What the woman didn’t realize was that the struggle to emerge from the cocoon was an essential part of the moth developing the strength to fly. By seeking to cut short the moth’s struggle, the woman crippled it and doomed it to a flightless existence.
If you're like me, when you're in pain, you just want someone or something to bring relief. You want out. You want it to be over as soon as possible—but I have learned that sometimes the struggle is necessary. Sometimes, the pain we experience in one area prepares us to fulfill a purpose in another. I hardly ever make the connection until the process is complete, but I’ve seen it happen over and over again. It's like when the pain of the pit and the prison somehow prepared Joseph for the palace. His pain looked nothing like his purpose, yet without the struggle, Joseph would have never succeeded. It's almost like God has Mr. Miyagi tendencies. Having us sweat and strain, waxing on and waxing off, somehow prepares us to ward off attacks in the future. I don't claim to know exactly how it works or to even recognize it when it’s happening, but I know that it does. And I also know that the whole ordeal requires a tremendous amount of trust.
Do you have that kind of trust? Do you trust God to use your pain to fulfill some type of purpose? Do you trust that he’s using your struggle to strengthen your wings? Do you trust that he’ll bring something good out of this bad situation? If you’re not there yet, don’t beat yourself up; just remember the promise that God made in Romans 8:28. “ALL things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
As you think about that promise, say this prayer with me: “Lord, help me to trust you to work all things out for good. Help me to be patient during the process and to believe that you have a plan, even when I don’t know what that plan is.” In Jesus name, I pray. Amen.
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