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There was a boy who found a butterfly cocoon. Each day the boy went to visit the cocoon. One day a small opening appeared in the cocoon. The boy watched the butterfly for hours as it struggled to force its body through the little hole.

Suddenly the butterfly stopped trying to make its way out of the cocoon. It didn’t seem to be making any progress.  The butterfly was no longer moving. With good intentions, the boy felt he needed to help the butterfly.  He took a pair of scissors and very slowly with surgical precision, snipped the remaining bit of the cocoon being careful not to hurt the butterfly.  The butterfly then easily emerged.  Sounds rejuvenating right?

Except something was strange.  The butterfly’s body was swollen and its wings were all shriveled and deformed.  The boy continued to watch the butterfly, expecting any moment the wings would expand enough to support the body, which he thought would contract in time.

Unfortunately, neither happened.  In fact the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and deformed wings, never able to fly.

What the boy in his kindness and impatience did not understand was the natural evolution of life.  The restrictive cocoon and the struggle through the small opening of the cocoon is nature's way of forcing fluid from the butterfly’s body into its wings, so that it would be ready for flight after emerging from the cocoon.

In 1 Cor 12 verses 9 through 10 Paul acknowledges that in our struggles God’s grace is sufficient and because His  power is perfected in our weakness. Paul goes on to say therefore I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in calamities, in persecutions and difficulties for the sake of Christ, for whenever I am weak, then I am strong. 

Paul understood that it's because God’s grace is sufficient,  that Sometimes our struggles are exactly what we need in our lives. I need you to understand this morning, that If we went through life without any obstacles, both our minds and bodies would shrivel up like the wings of the butterfly in the story. Without struggles, without trials and experiences that build our strength we would be worthless in the exaltation of divine purpose

With tribulations and struggles, there would be no opportunities for us to learn and grow from each experience.  We would never be able to spread our wings, fly on our own,  or reach the heights our purpose calls us to.  Learn from your trial, let your mistakes be your motivation and your stumbles build your strength.  

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