Carrot, Egg or Coffee?

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 where she filled three pots with water. 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 took 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 do you see” “Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she replied.

She brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they had become soft.

She then asked her to take an egg and break it. Unable to do so of course, she pulled off the shell to reveal the hard-boiled interior of the egg.

Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee.

The daughter smiled, as she tasted its rich aroma. Then she asked, “What's the point, mother?” Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity—boiling water—but each had reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting. However after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. In contrast, the egg had been fragile; its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But, after sitting in the boiling water, its inside became hardened.

The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they had been 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? Are you a carrot, an egg, or coffee?”

Think about it: Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity, do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Or, am I an egg that starts with a malleable, soft heart, but changes with the heat? Did I once have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a break-up, a financial hardship, or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my 'shell' still look the same, but on the inside I am bitter and tough, with a stiff spirit and a hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee? The hard bean granules actually change the hot water—the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the coffee fragrance and flavor.

Make it your prayer today, that in God's strength, you may be like the coffee. When things are at their worst—when the hours are the darkest and trials are their greatest—then the flavor of Christ can be seen clearly in you, and you can be used to change the situation around you.