Daily
Devotional

As boys, my brothers and I would often gather caterpillars from milkweed plants and take them home. We wanted to watch them enclose themselves in cocoons and then transform into beautiful Monarch butterflies. It was so exciting to see a butterfly just about to break out of its cocoon!

Sometimes, though, it was difficult to just sit back and watch the process of transformation. We wanted to see the butterflies emerge! So, there were times when we helped, or rather tried to help, the butterflies break out of their cocoons. However, it always turned out that those we “helped” never developed into the beautiful creatures for which we had hoped. In our eagerness, we actually hurt them. We soon learned that it is best to just let nature take its course. That way, almost without exception, a beautiful butterfly was the result.

In a spiritual sense, there is also a process of growth whereby we develop into mature Christians. God’s designed process for growth involves teaching and encouraging, as well as correcting and chastening. As our focus verse says, it is a process of making sore and then binding up, wounding and then making whole. We may wish to hurry along the times when God disciplines—passing straight over to the end product of mature, wise Christians. But it is impossible to develop into mature Christians if the process of growth is altered by our wanting to take a short cut. If we try to skip parts of His plan, we will miss critical lessons and ultimately hurt our development.

Maturity, in part, is being able to see where we are immature. This can be both painful and painstaking, but satisfying once we have moved beyond that point. God’s Word says, “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth” (Hebrews 12:6). That may not sound pleasant, but if we yield to the chastening, it brings forth the peaceable fruits of righteousness.