The Emperor Moth

A young man found a cocoon of an Emperor Moth and decided to take it home and watch it emerge from its cocoon. Finally, a small opening appeared in the cocoon and the man sat and watched for several hours as the moth struggled to force its way out of the small opening.

After realizing the moth had not made any progress in quite a while, the man decided to lend a hand. He gently cut the opening and made it bigger to help the moth’s progress. The moth emerged from the cocoon with a swollen body and small shriveled wings. The man waited for the moth’s body to shrink and its wings to go so it could take flight, but it never happened. The moth never flew but spent its life crawling on the floor.

Unbeknownst to the man, the moth required the struggle through the cocoon so that fluid would be moved from its body to its wings in order to enable flight. Without the struggle the moth would never be able to fly. The man thought he was engaging in an act of kindness and love by helping the moth and ending its struggle but was actually hurting the moth in the long run.

Trials are not fun. When we are in the midst of them, we often feel as if we are not making any progress, but trials often make us into the people we are. We learn lessons through pain that we would not have learned through prosperity.

In the book of James, he tells his readers to consider their trials and difficulties a joy (James 1:2). That sounds so foreign to us! Have joy in our trials?!?! James tells us that trials produce endurance and endurance helps us to be complete (James 1:3-4). In other words, God can use trials to make you into a better person. That does not mean trials are easy or painless, but they have a purpose! James reminds us that those who endure these trials will receive an eternal reward (James 1:12).

Paul reminds us that our trials can help other people get through their darkest hours. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Cor. 1:3-4). One positive of trials and difficulties is that one day we might be able to comfort those during a trial they are going through and that we have already endured. We can show them how God gave us the grace and help to get through the difficulty, and we can strengthen them while they endure it.