A man found a cocoon of an emperor moth. He took it home so that he
could watch the moth come out of the cocoon.

On the day a small opening appeared, he sat and watched the moth 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, 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 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 a struggle, he deprived the moth of
health.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If God allowed us
to go through our life without any obstacles, He would cripple us. We would
not be as strong as what we could have been. How true this is! How many
times have we wanted to take the quick way out of struggles and
difficulties, to take those scissors and snip off the remaining bits in an
attempt to be free. We need to remember that our loving Father will never
give us more than we can bear and through our trials and struggles we are
strengthened as gold is refined in the fire.

"May we never let the things we can't have, or don't have, or shouldn't
have, spoil our enjoyment of the things we do have and can have". Don't
focus on the things you DON'T have, enjoy each moment of every day God has
given you. This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be
glad in it. So let's take today, even with its struggles and make it a good
day ... our loving Father God has given this day to me to use as best I
can. The struggles of life won't go away, but remember that God is allowing
us to go through it for a reason.