Profound Wisdom

Many of you may remember a while back I blogged about my sister-in-law Alisha's mom. She was in a terrible car accident just over 2 years ago. She had a severe brain injury. Thankfully she is alive and doing much, much better, but there is still a long road ahead. She, and her husband, have spent that last 2 years relearning pretty much everything. She has been learning how to walk, talk, take care of herself and many other things we all take for granted. They have been through a trial that I can't even fathom. Their faith has been shaken, made stronger, shaken and made stronger again. They have had to rely on Him like they never had before, as well as friends and family. It's been an enormous challenge. And through it all they have shared tidbits on their blog.

Just a couple days ago she shared another story that made me stop in my tracks and really think. It was so powerful - especially coming from her. I wanted to pass it along so you could all be encouraged as I was. I found a similar story online so I copied and pasted it rather than try and remember it.

A man found the cocoon of an emperor moth. He took it home so that he could watch the moth come out of the cocoon. One day a small opening appeared, and he sat and watched for several hours as the moth 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 farther. It just seemed to be stuck. Then the man, in his kindness, decided to help the moth, so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The moth then emerged easily.

But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the moth because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact, the little moth spent the rest of its 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 moth to get through the tiny opening were God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the moth into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon. Freedom and flight would only come after the struggle. By depriving the moth of struggle, he deprived the moth of health.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in life. If God allowed us to go through life without any obstacles, He would cripple us. We would not be as strong as we might have been.