~ How Big Is Your
God? ~
The original source of this material
is unknown.
You may never look
at a cup of coffee the same way again. It's one of my favorite beverages—now I
know why.
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 that as one problem was solved a new one
arose.
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. She then asked her to take an egg
and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.
Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee.
The daughter smiled,
as she tasted 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 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? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?”
Think of this: Which are you?
Am I the carrot
that seems strong, but with pain and adversity, I wilt and become soft and lose
my strength? Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with
the heat but hardens 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 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.
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?
Don't tell God how
big your storm is—tell the storm how big your God is!
