Are you an egg, a carrot, or a coffee
bean???
A young woman went to her mother and
told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know
how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting
and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose. Her
mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed
each on a high fire.
Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil, without saying a word. In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners.
She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl.
She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl.
Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.
Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me, what you see?"
"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied. Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots.
She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it.
After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, "What does it mean, mother?"
Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity ... boiling water. Each reacted differently.
The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.
The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.
The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.
"Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond?
Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil, without saying a word. In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners.
She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl.
She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl.
Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.
Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me, what you see?"
"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied. Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots.
She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it.
After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, "What does it mean, mother?"
Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity ... boiling water. Each reacted differently.
The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.
The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.
The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.
"Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond?
The egg, carrot, and coffee all went
through heat. Our “heat” are trials that face us.
1. Are you an Egg? A Cup of Bitterness?
Started off with a malleable heart.
Sensitive to others. Caring. Considerate
Changed with the heat…the trials.
Became hardened…bitter…stiff spirit.
Changed with the heat…the trials.
Became hardened…bitter…stiff spirit.
Heb 12:15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
•Many people are bitter over the
past, frustrated about the present and worried about the future. Which are you?
•We wonder “why bad things happen?” When, we need to realize adversity happens to all. God isn’t peering down thinking about who he will throw the next bolt of lightning to. What really bothers us is that it happened to US (but what makes us so special that it shouldn’t?) It really comes down to a pride issue.
•We wonder “why bad things happen?” When, we need to realize adversity happens to all. God isn’t peering down thinking about who he will throw the next bolt of lightning to. What really bothers us is that it happened to US (but what makes us so special that it shouldn’t?) It really comes down to a pride issue.
•No matter the era, the culture or
the level of material wealth, hardship is common to all men of all time when...
•all your efforts seem to end in failure
•no matter how hard you try, you just don't seem get anything accomplished
•you suffer unjustly
•nothing ever seems to go right
•life just doesn't seem to be getting any better
•it feels like nothing good has resulted from your life
•you do your best and still fail
•you do what is right and it still turns out wrong
•your family falls apart
•your health fails, your money is lost and your friends forsake you (JOB)
•you think you have nothing to show for your life
•you feel lonely and isolated
•you feel like no one understands what you're going through
•it feels like everyone sees you as a failure
•your kids go down the wrong path
•you look at your life and it just doesn't seem like there is any reason to keep trying
•you just flat-out can't see anything good coming from trying anymore
•your whole life feels like one great big regret
•you realize that your life is not what you ever thought it would be
John 12:40 He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.
•all your efforts seem to end in failure
•no matter how hard you try, you just don't seem get anything accomplished
•you suffer unjustly
•nothing ever seems to go right
•life just doesn't seem to be getting any better
•it feels like nothing good has resulted from your life
•you do your best and still fail
•you do what is right and it still turns out wrong
•your family falls apart
•your health fails, your money is lost and your friends forsake you (JOB)
•you think you have nothing to show for your life
•you feel lonely and isolated
•you feel like no one understands what you're going through
•it feels like everyone sees you as a failure
•your kids go down the wrong path
•you look at your life and it just doesn't seem like there is any reason to keep trying
•you just flat-out can't see anything good coming from trying anymore
•your whole life feels like one great big regret
•you realize that your life is not what you ever thought it would be
John 12:40 He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.
•As an egg becomes hard boiled….it becomes useless for cooking…only for consumption. Raw, eggs are a binding agent.
•With a softened heart we can do much for the Lord………moving as he wills………we can unify other brethren and bring others to the Lord (binding).
•Are you “binding” or are you being “consumed”?
•Bitterness is NOT rare. Many become hardened. Life seems to bring it naturally. We have to fight against.
2. Are you a Carrot? A cup of brokenness? Being a
carrot can be a good thing or a bad thing.
A. The BAD Carrot
•Often life’s trials can cause:
•Guilt—for things we have done wrong (God forgave us. We need to forgive ourselves)
--1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
--Psalms 51—begins with David’s guilt…………but ends with him relieved from the spirit of forgiveness.
--The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can’t go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.
•Depression—for things that have gone wrong for us
--Humility is not thinking low of yourself……….but not thinking of yourself at all. When we are depressed we have decided to focus upon ourselves and OUR circumstances. (I have these tendencies). It’s a spiraling effect.
--Depression and guilt often go hand-in-hand.
By becoming TOO soft, we wilt and lose our strength. Give up.
Is that you?
•Often life’s trials can cause:
•Guilt—for things we have done wrong (God forgave us. We need to forgive ourselves)
--1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
--Psalms 51—begins with David’s guilt…………but ends with him relieved from the spirit of forgiveness.
--The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can’t go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.
•Depression—for things that have gone wrong for us
--Humility is not thinking low of yourself……….but not thinking of yourself at all. When we are depressed we have decided to focus upon ourselves and OUR circumstances. (I have these tendencies). It’s a spiraling effect.
--Depression and guilt often go hand-in-hand.
By becoming TOO soft, we wilt and lose our strength. Give up.
Is that you?
B. The GOOD Carrot
--Psa 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
We need to become humble to be used of God. Did you know….
Carrots are more nutritious when cooked. Cooking breaks down the tough cellular walls that hold in the nutrients and are easier to absorb by the body.
Trials break down some of the walls (barriers) in our lives that prevent us from doing the work of God.
When was the last time you cried over a sin you had committed? Or the lost soul of another person? Maybe we are still “an egg” but need to become as a “cooked carrot”?
--Psa 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
We need to become humble to be used of God. Did you know….
Carrots are more nutritious when cooked. Cooking breaks down the tough cellular walls that hold in the nutrients and are easier to absorb by the body.
Trials break down some of the walls (barriers) in our lives that prevent us from doing the work of God.
When was the last time you cried over a sin you had committed? Or the lost soul of another person? Maybe we are still “an egg” but need to become as a “cooked carrot”?
3. Are you a Coffee Bean? A Cup
of Blessing? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance
that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and
flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get
better and change the situation around you.
--1Pe 4:12 Beloved, think it not
strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange
thing happened unto you:
Each one of us are a tool in God’s tool box. Sometimes we need SHARPENED so that we can be of more use. The trials we go through are not meant to stop us but to keep us going…and make us stronger
You control you. Sometimes we think events control us or others. But…when you get down to it…we control ourselves. We control how we respond.
Each one of us are a tool in God’s tool box. Sometimes we need SHARPENED so that we can be of more use. The trials we go through are not meant to stop us but to keep us going…and make us stronger
You control you. Sometimes we think events control us or others. But…when you get down to it…we control ourselves. We control how we respond.
--1Pe 1:7 That the trial of your
faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried
with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of
Jesus Christ:
The Christian life is NOT smooth
sailing but a soft landing.
--Do you see your trial as a potential blessing? What can you take from it?
(Ask…what is God trying to say to me through this storm?)
--Can you be a blessing to others through it? (while going through a trial……..do something for someone else or for the Lord. It will take your mind off yourself…and place it on others.)
--Does it provide you with insight to understanding others?
(Having gone through financial struggles………I can help those who go through the same.
Having lost loved ones, I can relate more to those who lose their loved ones.
Having gone through loss of health with my Dad, I can be more sympathetic to those who go through the same, etc...)We all go through different things and think of your trial as to a help to someone else
So, what kind of Cup are you?
At the end of your life, will others look back and see you as having been a…
A Cup of Bitterness—the trials of life have hardened you………you are consumed by the wrongs of your past…or the trials of the present….or the worries of the future
A Cup of Brokenness—Have the trials of life left you with guilt/depression….spiraling deeper and deeper into a dark abyss of being unusable for the Lord? –or-
Have the trials of life left you broken and humble, ready to listen and follow the will of the Lord?
A Cup of Blessing—Have the trials of life made you to want to try harder and do better? Have they provided you with insight that has enabled you to GROW and to be a blessing to others?
--Can you be a blessing to others through it? (while going through a trial……..do something for someone else or for the Lord. It will take your mind off yourself…and place it on others.)
--Does it provide you with insight to understanding others?
(Having gone through financial struggles………I can help those who go through the same.
Having lost loved ones, I can relate more to those who lose their loved ones.
Having gone through loss of health with my Dad, I can be more sympathetic to those who go through the same, etc...)We all go through different things and think of your trial as to a help to someone else
So, what kind of Cup are you?
At the end of your life, will others look back and see you as having been a…
A Cup of Bitterness—the trials of life have hardened you………you are consumed by the wrongs of your past…or the trials of the present….or the worries of the future
A Cup of Brokenness—Have the trials of life left you with guilt/depression….spiraling deeper and deeper into a dark abyss of being unusable for the Lord? –or-
Have the trials of life left you broken and humble, ready to listen and follow the will of the Lord?
A Cup of Blessing—Have the trials of life made you to want to try harder and do better? Have they provided you with insight that has enabled you to GROW and to be a blessing to others?
The happiest of people don’t
necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything
that comes along their way.
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