Why Your Problems Can Be Your Greatest Asset

There is an oft shared story about a child who finds a cocoon. Taking it home to watch the moth emerge, one day the child notices a small hole appear as the moth begins to exit its home. For hours the tiny creature works its way free of its silken chamber. When it is almost entirely emerged the child takes scissors and cuts away the remaining strands of the cocoon, freeing the insect. However altruistic the intent, the act was in fact destructive.

The moth needed the remaining pieces of the cocoon to put pressure on its undeveloped wings during its escape. The final part of the struggle would have forced fluid into its wings so they would properly expand. Though freed by the child, the moth will never be able to fly.

Anthony Robbins shares that most human behavior is driven by two things, the desire for pleasure and the need to avoid pain. While most people claim they love surprises, the reality is we love the surprises we want, the rest we call problems. The paradox of life is that the problems are where the growth happens. Thus what people naturally try to avoid is the very thing they need.

In fact, when people get really uncomfortable they often pray that God would deliver them from what is causing the pain. When he doesn’t immediately respond they tend to think he is ignoring them. But just as the moth needed the pressure to strengthen its muscles, so at times we need to be left in the midst of a trial so that our spiritual muscles can develop. God is not ignoring us, but allowing the situation to serve a purpose so that eventually, on the other side of the circumstance we will be able to fly.

Going through the fire of affliction is never easy, but sometimes rather than praying, “God, get me out of here,” it is better to simply pray, “Show me.” By all means make wise choices during the distress, but once you have done your part trust that God will do his. Then simply wait upon the Lord, learn from the process, and trust that his strength is made perfect in weakness.

Leonard Sweet shares that in Christ we find the miracle that, “There is no pit so deep that God cannot pull you out of it. There is no loneliness so isolating that God cannot reach you. There is no rejection so brutal that God cannot bring you back. There is no valley so low that God cannot walk you through it.”

In time you will realize that the strength you had to make it through was the strength he gave you; that the muscles you developed in the midst of the trial were the muscles he intended for you to grow; and that the faith that sustained you was given from above. Then you will realize you needed the process for your wings to grow and that all along his intent was for you to take flight.