the butterfly

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 to help the butterfly he took a pair of sissors 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 and be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact the butterfly spent the rest of it's life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings.
It was never 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 could 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 life without any abstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. We could never fly!
PRAYER
I asked for strength ... and God gave me difficulties to make me strong.
I asked for wisdom ... and God gave me problems to solve.
I asked for prosperity ... and God gave me a brain and brawn to work.
I asked for courage ... and God gave me danger to overcome.
I asked for love ... and God gave me troubled people to help.
I asked for favours ... and God gave me opportunities.
I received nothing I wanted ... I received everything I needed!