Daily Devotional for May 25, 2021
Learning to Fly
“Mom, I think it’s time!” Jenny waved her mother over, never taking her eyes off the tiny chrysalis hanging from the bush. “See, the top part has started to expand!” Jenny pointed to the wrinkles that had formed on the upper part of the chrysalis since that morning. “The website said that’s a sure sign the butterfly is getting ready to come out!”
Jenny and her parents had been observing the chrysalis every day since Jenny had discovered it about two weeks before. During that time, Jenny had researched and learned a lot about monarch butterflies.
They watched for several minutes, but nothing happened.
“Maybe the butterfly needs help getting out,” Jenny said, looking worried. “I’ll go get some scissors.”
“No,” Mom said firmly. Then, more gently, she explained, “The monarch needs to exercise its wings so they’ll become strong enough to fly. If it doesn’t encounter any resistance while shedding the chrysalis, the butterfly won’t grow strong and will never be able to fly. It has a long journey to make and needs strong wings.”
The chrysalis finally started to split open, and the wet, crumpled butterfly wings were beginning to emerge.
“But I want to help it!” Jenny looked close to tears. “It looks so weak.”
“God knows what butterflies need to grow and mature. The struggle is part of its growing process.”
Mother and daughter watched in silence as the new butterfly hung upside down from the leaf, its beautiful wings slowly expanding in the sunlight.
“You know,” said Mom, “as your parents, it’s hard for your father and me to watch you struggle with things, like falling off the balance beam in gymnastics or figuring out how to do your math homework. But we know that if we removed all the obstacles from your life, you would never learn or grow as a person. Our spiritual lives are like that too. Wrestling with problems and facing difficult circumstances can help us learn to trust Jesus and grow stronger in our faith. He can use the difficulties you go through to make you more like Him and become the person He created you to be. Just like that butterfly.”
As they watched, the butterfly opened its wings and flew away.
-Suzanne Felton
How about you?
Are you facing obstacles in your life right now? Life isn’t always easy. In fact, sometimes we encounter very difficult experiences. Jesus doesn’t always remove the obstacles in our lives, but He does promise to walk beside us and give us what we need to get through them. Just like a butterfly working its way out of a chrysalis, we can grow stronger in our faith as we learn to trust Jesus through our struggles.
Thank you for reading this Keys for Kids devotional! Did you enjoy the story? Has Keys for Kids been an encouragement to you and your family? If so, would you please consider supporting Keys For Kids Ministries in our effort to continue to provide these daily devotionals to children around the world?