Mid-week Devotion

Read 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

 

I love butterflies and often refer to them as flowers with wings.  Recently I was reading about butterflies and came across the following little story on the Internet. 

 

"It's not easy to become an emperor butterfly.  To emerge into the world, the butterfly must force its way through the neck of a flask-shaped cocoon.  Getting through this opening takes hours of intense struggle.  The insect must squirm and wiggle to push its way through the confining threads.  If you watched an emperor butterfly's struggle, you might feel sorry for the struggling insect and snip the confining threads to make an easier exit.  But if you did, the butterfly would never develop its wings.  Instead, it would spend most of its life crawling, never able to spread its wings and fly.  Entomologist who study this butterfly believe the pressure on the insect's body forces essential juices into the wings, thus preparing the wings for flight.  Without the pressure, the wings would never become strong."

 

Sometimes having faith is difficult.  Like the emperor butterfly, we struggle.  We feel overwhelmed - tested, beaten and battered.  And we wish someone would step in and take away the struggle.  But our faith grows through our struggles as Paul reminds us in our reading.

 

Prayer:  O Lord help us to remember that out of struggle comes strength and renewal. Amen

 

~Rev. Billy J. Banks- Pastor- Grace Lutheran Church, Buffalo New York