I once read a story of a man and a butterfly. The story goes something like this –
One day, a man saw a cocoon hanging on a tree. Every day he would go check on the cocoon to see if the butterfly was breaking out. One day when he went to check, he noticed a small opening in the cocoon. It meant that the butterfly was trying to make its way out. The man decided to watch how the butterfly would come out of the cocoon. He watched the butterfly struggling to get through the tiny hole as the hours passed. Unfortunately, after many hours and many attempts to free itself, there was no progress. It seemed that the butterfly had tried its best and was stuck.
The man, thinking the butterfly was stuck, decided to help the butterfly. He got a pair of scissors and cut the cocoon to make the tiny opening bigger so that the butterfly could get free. The butterfly emerged without any struggle!
The butterfly had a fat, swollen body and its wings were withered and small. The man waited to see if the body would shrink and the wings would grow. They did not.
Unfortunately, the butterfly just crawled around with its withered wings and a fat body. It was never able to fly.
Although the man had good intentions when he helped the butterfly get free of its cocoon, he did not realise that he had doomed the poor creature to death.
You see only by struggling through the small hole could the butterfly emerge to be the beautiful creature it was meant to be, with big strong wings. The struggle and continuous effort from the butterfly to get out of its cocoon would push the fluid stored in the body to its wings. From the struggle of getting through that tiny hole in the cocoon, the body would become lighter and smaller, and the wings would be beautiful and large.
Moral of the story
Struggles in life are not always bad. Without struggles, we would never grow. We wouldn’t become stronger and we would never realise our true potential. Just like the butterfly, we would not become the beautiful creature we should have been if we are always rescued by others.
Some people get broken by the struggles in life. Others push through and become stronger. The truth is that life without struggles is just a false dream. We will all have struggles that we will have to overcome but the amazing thing is that when we overcome those struggles in life, we feel better, more confident and sure of ourselves and we grow.
The struggle you’re in today is developing the strength you need for tomorrow. Don’t give up.
-Robert Tew-
In John 16:33 Jesus said that we would have trouble in this world but he also told us to take heart because He has overcome the world. Think about Jesus’ struggles and the disciples who followed him. They did not have an easy life. But they grew as people on a personal level and became people of strength and character, willing to stand strong through all their trials because they knew that without those trials they wouldn’t grow to be all they were made to be.
If you find you are struggling, I hope this has spoken to you. You are greater than your struggles and if you find yourself alone, I encourage you to call out Jesus because in Matthew 28:11 He said: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
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