ARE YOU A CARROT, AN EGG, OR A COFFEE BEAN?

2 Corinthians 4:8-9 (ESV)

8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.

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.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. 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 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 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 were soft and mushy. She then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hardened egg. Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee.

The daughter smiled as she tasted its deep flavor and inhaled its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, "What's the point, mother?"

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity - boiling water - but each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it 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? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?"

Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong? But with pain and adversity, do I wilt and lose my strength? Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit but, after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and a hardened heart? Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water - the very circumstance that brings the adversity, the pain, the hardship – into something quite wonderful. When the water gets hot, it releases its fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you for the better.

When the hours are the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate to another level? How do you handle adversity?

ARE YOU A CARROT, AN EGG, OR A COFFEE BEAN?

Dear Lord, help us to handle the troubles that come our way in a way that we can change the circumstance and bring glory to You. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

An egg with money in it

Psalm 34:10 (ESV)

The young lions suffer want and hunger;

    but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

Liz Cobos had separated from her husband. She was emotionally devastated, and the reality of keeping her two preschool daughters fed and cared for had all but shattered her spirit. She believed in God, but where was He? She felt so alone. Reluctantly, she decided to file for financial aid, until she could find a job.

However, the paperwork would take some time, and a few days later, Liz realized that she had no money, and no food in the cupboards. She checked her purse and pockets just in case, but there was no money anywhere, no way to buy even a small bag of groceries. "I sent the girls next door because I knew my nice neighbor would feed them," she recalls. "Then I sat on the couch and cried." God, please, just a little help...just enough to buy some groceries for the next week. As Liz wept, five-year-old Crystal came back into the apartment. "Mommy, what's the matter?" She asked.

Liz didn't want Crystal to see her crying. "Nothing, honey. Why don't you go outside and do something?"

"Like what?" Crystal persisted.

"Oh." Liz wiped her eyes. "Why don't you take out the garbage? That would be a big help."

"Okay!" Crystal took the garbage bag and headed out the door and down to the apartment complex dumpsters. A moment later, she was back. "Mommy, can I keep this plastic egg that I found in the dump? I can put my Barbie doll clothes in it."

"No, honey," Liz murmured absently. "You're not supposed to bring things in from the garbage. It might be dirty."

"It's not, Mommy. Please? I'll keep the egg and you can keep the money in it."

Liz's heart seemed to stop. "What money?"

"Here," Crystal said, and she pulled four twenty dollar bills out of the egg. Liz stared at the bills. The dumpsters were huge-there was no possibly way she could find the owner of those bills. Did God mean them for her? Hadn't she asked? "I will never leave you nor forsake you." The comforting words from the Bible washed over her, and she understood.

"The money bought us groceries until my aid came through," Liz says. "I found a job, and things are much better today, but I've never forgotten that moment, and the reassurance it brought me." It wasn't so much the money itself, she says, but the certainty that God was near and caring for her, answering her prayer in His own way, in His own time. "Nothing is impossible with Him."

Dear Lord, we want to take the time to thank You for the ways that You chose to supply our needs. Even in ways that we don’t think are possible.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Would You Take an Egg to Share the Gospel?

Psalm 27:14 (NIV)

 Wait for the Lord;

    be strong and take heart

    and wait for the Lord.

To tell you the truth, it's hard to find someone who likes to wait, especially in a world where the word "hectic" has begun to quantify the norm. Instant gratification has made the word "wait" a word of the past, which truly isn't in our best interest!

Impatience is one of our worst enemies. It has caused many blunders and heartaches, as well as much loneliness. Impatience is a sign that we want to be in control, and things aren't happening the way we want them to. But maybe, just maybe, this world is not about us, but about others as well!

May we all learn to wait on the Lord. There is beauty in waiting, especially if our heart is right. Waiting on the Lord is a sign that we trust God and that we have confidence that He will come through for us in the best possible way. It isn't about just fulfilling our wants and desires!

Christians at the University of Auckland aren't always well-liked. Witnessing is usually received with as much enthusiasm as a cold shower. "We live in a modern world man. Wake up!" I wonder, however, just who it is who needs to wake up!

These Christians aren't easily discouraged. They know they can rely on God, and thus, they waited for His guidance. And their wait was rewarded. Easter 2012 was going to be their opportunity to make a difference. A way-outside-the-box idea sprang out during prayer: Let's have an "egg a Christian" celebration for Easter! That would sure attract a crowd on campus!

And attract a crowd it did, for even the media broadcasted this special event. There was one tiny catch, though. Anyone who wished to throw an egg at a Christian would have to be willing to listen to that Christian explain the meaning of Easter and Christ's resurrection. All of it free of charge. One egg per person. Thus the "eggs" of Easter became an opportunity for them to share the real meaning behind Easter: Having an intimate relationship with God!

Patience produces results that will last for eternity!

Are you willing to be egged? Let us take a stand for our Lord today. Pray today how you can share His great love with the world around you.

Dear Lord, we pray that we would be willing to have an egg thrown at us. We pray that our eyes would be open to the new ways we can reach the world for You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.