Trusting God

I was watching Christian television the other day and the preacher stated, the hardest thing you may ever do in the Christian life is not allow yourself to fix something that you know can fix just because you have the ability to fix it.

I honestly believe he was speaking right to me. I am so tempted sometimes when I see someone struggling to want to just fix the problem for them. I see them in pain, I see them hurting, I know what it will take to fix it and of course they know I can fix it and they want me to fix it. But I have to back up and get out of God's way and trust Him to work it out.

It is so difficult for me sometimes when I have to make myself sit by and watch while God works out His plan. I am talking about when someone has been shown the way and through bad choices they continue old behaviors and the only way they will receive deliverance is to work through the situation.

Oh My Goodness, it is all I can do not to want to fix it, but where there is no struggle there is no strength. God knows what we need. God takes us through the valley sometimes to get us to give up and give it to Him, because doing it our way does not work. It is thru my mistakes and experiences that God has brought me to the place I am. No one bailed me out or delivered me, and I am the better person for it, God knew what I needed.

I am sure you have heard this story but I always remind myself of it when I find I am about to give in and get in God's way.....

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could,and it could go no further. So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly. What the man, in his kindness and haste, did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon. Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives. If God allowed us to go through our lives without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. We could never fly!

What about you, have you ever been tempted to fix something you shouldn't?