Redouble your efforts !

"Therefore, brothers, since God has called you and chosen, redouble your efforts." 2 Peter 1.10

Ah, the famous efforts ... we do not like that! Pastor, would not you have in your drawer a magic wand or an instant deliverance prayer to make me a mature Christian, marching from victory to victory ? Well no ! Besides, if someone proposes that to you, you are dealing with a charlatan taking advantage of your despair or an ignorant one.

Sometimes efforts are exactly what we need in our lives.

Read this story carefully. One day a man found a butterfly cocoon in which a small crack appeared. The man sat down and watched for several hours the butterfly struggling to pass his body through the small hole. Suddenly the butterfly stopped making progress. It was as if he had reached the maximum of his possibilities but could not get out. The man then decided to help the butterfly. He cut the cocoon with scissors. The butterfly was able to get out easily ... But, it had a swollen body and small and shriveled wings. The man continued to observe the butterfly thinking that at some point the wings would grow larger and would be able to support the body. But nothing happened! The butterfly spent the rest of her life with a swollen body and atrophied wings. He was never able to fly.

What the man in his goodness and haste did not understand is that the butterfly's struggle to get through the small opening was the way God created to force the blood of the butterfly's body to go irrigate its Wings so that they can grow and fly.

Sometimes efforts are exactly what we need in our lives. If God allowed us to live our lives without any obstacle, it would make us sick. We would never be as strong as we might be. We could never fly.

A prayer for today

Lord, I come before you to tell you that from now on I will make efforts. I realize that I am not alone, your Spirit is here to help me and help me in this divine endeavor. Help me develop your character, amen.

Patrice Martorano

Source (The Thought of the Day)