Lesson from Butterfly...Sent to Me From a Local Muslim Imam

This was sent to me from a local Imam who has become very close friends with one of my good friends. He is a very gentle man who very much loves God and desires to worship him in all aspects of his life. I thought you would enjoy this and think about how conversations about the different faiths could spring from a story like this one.

About Struggling...

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 Allah'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 Allah 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"!

I asked for Strength.........
And Allah gave me Difficulties to make me strong.

I asked for Wisdom.........
And Allah gave me Problems to solve.

I asked for Prosperity.........
And Allah gave me Brain and Brawn to work.

I asked for Courage.........
And Allah gave me Danger to overcome.

I asked for Love..........
And Allah gave me Troubled people to help.

I asked for Favors.........
And Allah gave me Opportunities.

I received nothing I wanted .......
I received everything I needed!