2 Corinthians 4:16-18
“Therefore, we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. So, we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
My son, who is fourteen, is starting to run some of his own laundry, do the dishes and handle other household tasks on his own. We know we need to start preparing him for adulthood. Sometimes it’s hard to watch. Young people can struggle when they are learning something new. It takes some time for them to learn how to do things well.
I’ve wanted to jump in at times and take over. This week there was a situation where I knew son was struggling with a task. I knew I had to let him figure it out, but it wasn’t easy. The story of the “Emperor moth” came to mind. It’s something I’ve written on in the past. But now experiencing in real time.
A man found the cocoon of an Emperor moth and took it home to watch it emerge. One day a small opening appeared, for several hours the moth struggled but it could not seem to pull its body past a certain point.
Deciding that something was wrong, the man took a small knife and carefully made the opening larger. The moth emerged easily, its body large and swollen, the wings small and shriveled.
He expected that in a few hours the wings would spread out and show their natural beauty, but they didn’t. In fact, this moth was never able to spread its wings and its body always looked oddly swollen.
The constricting cocoon and the struggle of the moth are both necessary. As the moth passes through the tiny opening fluid is forced from its body out into its wings. God designed every part of this process with great precision. That merciful help was, in reality, cruel.
Sometimes the struggle is exactly what we need.
In Matthew 19:23-24 Jesus talks about this.
“Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
The Lord is saying that being skilled in the ways of the world doesn’t mean someone has developed any spiritual strength to follow Him. Jesus requires us to be changed from the inside out. We must be transformed.
Growing spiritually is a new skill we can only accomplish as we trust Jesus. His teaching can be tough. Have you ever felt like giving up on the Lord?
If you feel the tight squeeze is too tough for you, remember Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 1:8 “He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you will be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Ask the Lord to help you if you feel stuck. Maybe He won’t reach in and make the opening larger. Perhaps He is using the situation to strengthen you on the inside.
Keep going, you are going to be stronger for the fight!
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