Struggling Your Way Through
Last week, our ministry's ladies netball team lost the final to MOE. Congratulations to both teams for making the final. I was happy that our ministry's team had reached the final and I know they practised hard.
But I was not expecting our team to win, not because they are not capable or I was not supportive. I realised earlier on that they had a psychological problem. From the outset, they were praying that the last team they wanted to meet was MOE. That team had already beaten them in their minds even before they had physically beaten them in the court. For the record, the ministry's team beat the MOE team in the qualifying round but even that was not enough to assuage them that they could win.
Conquering this fear is the most difficult. This is what I called trying to beat the inner demons inside you. I am not trying to be a psychologist, which I am not, but over the years I have seen enough of this attitude, of this behaviour, of this thinking, whatever you called it. I suffered from it too now and then.
You always get the feeling that you can't do something because it has already been decided. The whole world is against you and that there is nothing you can do and you just lie there and let the world beat you to death or something. But you need to get up and fight it.
My friend who regularly posted noted on facebook had this story about struggles.
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(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 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!
But I was not expecting our team to win, not because they are not capable or I was not supportive. I realised earlier on that they had a psychological problem. From the outset, they were praying that the last team they wanted to meet was MOE. That team had already beaten them in their minds even before they had physically beaten them in the court. For the record, the ministry's team beat the MOE team in the qualifying round but even that was not enough to assuage them that they could win.
Conquering this fear is the most difficult. This is what I called trying to beat the inner demons inside you. I am not trying to be a psychologist, which I am not, but over the years I have seen enough of this attitude, of this behaviour, of this thinking, whatever you called it. I suffered from it too now and then.
You always get the feeling that you can't do something because it has already been decided. The whole world is against you and that there is nothing you can do and you just lie there and let the world beat you to death or something. But you need to get up and fight it.
My friend who regularly posted noted on facebook had this story about struggles.
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(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 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!
Comments