So True

i snagged this from
Tosha's
insightful blog

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 had and it could go no further.
Then the man decided to help the butterfly,
so he took a pair of scissors 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 to
be able to support the body, which
would contract in time. Neither happened!
In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of
its life crawling around with a swollen
body and shriveled wings. It never was
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 would be ready for flight once
it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.
Sometimes struggles are exactly
what we need in our life. If God allowed
us to go through our life without any
obstacles, it would cripple us. We
would not be as strong as what we
could have been.
And we could never fly...(author unknown)

my bible study group met here last night. we are studying the book of James and last night's discussion was about trials and our attitude towards them. i wish i had read Tosha's post earlier so i could share this beautiful insight with my group.