Reading: I Corinthians 10:13, No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
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 squeeze its body through the tiny hole. Then it stopped, as if it couldn’t go further. So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bits of cocoon. The butterfly emerged easily but it had a swollen body and shriveled wings. The man continued to watch it, expecting that any minute the wings would enlarge and expand enough to support the body, Neither happened! In fact the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around. It was never able to fly. What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand: The restricting cocoon and the struggle required by the butterfly to get through the opening was a way of forcing the fluid from the body into the wings so that it would be ready for flight once that was achieved.
There are so many times that a struggle or a temptation that comes along and we expect God to quickly run over and cut apart the problem. In all actuality, God stands patiently watching us struggle, not because he is cruel or heartless. On the contrary, he knows that this struggle that you’re going through, if you struggle with it and don’t give up, you will emerge as a beautiful creation of His. When He says that He will not allow you to go through something that you cannot handle, He means it. So, instead of looking to God to take it away, learn to find victory in Him as you struggle through it. He wants to give you the strength to fight through it to make you better, rather than remove it.
What struggles and/or temptations are you going through today?
Instead of looking to have it be removed, how can you grow and learn through these things that you listed and how will you do that today?
REVIEW
How were you able to grow and learn through your struggles today?
How did that impact your outlook on your struggles today?
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I've heard a quote that said "God won't put things on you that will break your back, but will bend your knees". Trials define us. In Psalms David pleads for God to "deliver me in Your righteousness; bow down your ear to me, deliver me speedily; be my rock of refuge, a fortress of defense to save me". He wants us to trust and depend on Him. He is our source. It is He who tempers us. No matter what we are going thru. Our trials give us strength to be the man or woman of God we need to be.
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