Struggle: Opportunity follows struggle. It follows effort. It follows hard work. It doesn't come before.

Let me tell you a story on Struggle... how struggle makes us only stronger and how sometimes we need to go through tough and rough times in order to emerge more stronger and powerful, with our skills and qualities better sharpened.

Little Ravi and his friends, Kunal and Mohit were playing in the garden. Oops, the ball went into the bushes. Ravi rushed to pick the ball when he sees a green caterpillar on the leaf of a bush. He is fascinated. Wow!!! What a peculiar creature....

He shouts "Kunal, Mohit!!! Come; come fast...See what I have just discovered!!!”

His friends were equally fascinated by the small insect, trying to make its way through the foliage of leaves.

They lifted the leaf carefully, with the caterpillar on it and rushed towards Ravi's home, which was close by; meticulously taking care that the caterpillar doesn't fall off.

Ravi got a small jar and put the caterpillar into it and also put some leaves for the caterpillar to eat. They all used the watch the caterpillar each day, with great excitement.

Ravi's mother explained to the boys how the caterpillar was going to go through a metamorphosis and become a butterfly.

They were thrilled. They watched day, waiting for the butterfly to emerge out.

One day it happened, a small hole appeared in the cocoon and the butterfly started to struggle to come out. The boys flocked around it. They watched... the butterfly was struggling to come out of the cocoon. It tired and tried but kept failing.

The boys were very concerned. The butterfly was struggling so hard to get out! It looked like it couldn’t break free! It looked desperate! It looked like it was making no progress! They wanted to help the butterfly.

Ravi rushed in and brought scissors.

He snipped the cocoon to make the hole bigger and the butterfly starting emerging...
As the butterfly came out the boys were surprised. It had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. They to watch the butterfly expecting that, at any moment, the wings would dry out, enlarge and expand to support the swollen body. They thought that in time the body would also shrink and the butterfly’s wings would expand.

Nothing Happened!!!!

The butterfly kept crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings.
It was never able to fly....

The boys were very upset and confused.
Ravi's rushed to his mother and explained the situation to her.

Ravi's mother was a biologist. She explained that butterfly was SUPPOSED to struggle.

The restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the small opening of the cocoon are 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 life.

If God allowed us to go through all our life without any obstacles, that would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. Not only that, we could never fly.

Coal needs to bear high heat and high pressure before becoming a diamond.

Lets not fear struggles. Perhaps it may be God’s way to make us stronger and more powerful.

Make a choice of what FEAR stands for you.

1. Forget Everything And Run
2. Face Everything And Respond.