Trust in the TrialsShembull

The Struggles Make You Stronger

I watched as a colorful caterpillar squiggled daintily across a rust-colored leaf. It seemed content to be earth-bound even while a yellow butterfly was flitting and floating along the breeze above it.

It occurred to me that the caterpillar was satisfied because it does not yet know what it can become. The caterpillar looks at the butterfly and wonders what it would be like to fly, but that is just a dream, so she wiggles slowly to her next destination.

Then the caterpillar removes herself from the warmth of the sun and she spins herself into a protective cocoon where there is no light, only darkness. No one can hurt her inside the cocoon, so she feels safe. It walls keep things out, but they also keep her trapped and alone.

This reminds me of where I once was; bound to earthly things, content with the state I was in. I locked myself away behind a cocoon so I couldn't get hurt, and not knowing what I could be.

But then...God.

You see God can do some of his most amazing work in the dark places. Like the caterpillar, things that were dormant come to life. Parts of us that are no longer necessary fall of and are replaced with something stronger, something better. There is pain in the breaking, but there is blessing in what is broken.

What we once were dies and is replaced with something new and beautiful. We become a new creation! When the work of Christ is finished, we become restless in that old cocoon because it no longer serves us. It is time to push through the shell of what we once were and burst forth with new life and new wings to fly.

It's not easy to get used to this new body, but it makes us feel stronger and each time we lift our wings we imagine new possibilities and they seem as endless as the wind itself.

What was bound is now boundless. God finds us in the dark and gives us a new identity, a new name, and new wings to make us free!

Thank you Jesus for finding us and setting us free!

I pray that you have enjoyed this devotional and that it reached into your soul and touched you in those places that needed to hear from God.

If you would like to read more from me, pick up a copy of my new book, Shut Up Devil by clicking the link to purchase from Amazon.

God bless you as you learn to trust Him in the trials,

Susie