There’s an illustration I read about ten years ago, and it came across my e-mail again this week. It’s entitled, “CARROTS, EGGS & COFFEE.” The story is about a young woman who is having a rough time, and tells her mother how hard things are, how she doesn’t know how she can make it and wants to give up, etc… Everytime it seemed like she got one problem solved, a new one took its place. The mother goes into the kitchen and sets three pots with water to boil. In the first pot, she places raw carrots, in the second pot, raw eggs, and in the last, ground coffee beans. She lets them boil and doesn’t say anything. About twenty minutes later, she turns off the burners. She strains the carrots and puts them in a bowl. She places the eggs in a second bowl. She ladles out some of the coffee and places it in a third bowl. Then the mother asks her daughter what she sees. “Carrots, eggs, and coffee.” (She was probably thinking, “DUH!” but according to the story, she doesn’t say that!) Her mother brings her closer and asks her to feel the carrots. They are now soft. She asks her daughter to break the egg, and the daughter observes that it is now hard-boiled. Finally, she asks her to taste the coffee. She comments on its rich aroma, but then asks what is the meaning of it all. The mother asks in response, “Which are you? When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?” The point is this: Which one am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity wilts, becomes soft, and loses 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 break up, 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 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.
There’s a similar illustration that Jim Berg uses. I heard it first at a retreat where he was a guest speaker, but it’s also in his book, Changed into His Image. His illustration is of a tea bag in hot water, and his point is that, it is not the water that changes the flavor of the tea. It merely reveals what was already in the tea bag. If you are a hot tea drinker, you know that there are all sorts of blends and varieties of teas. Looking at the bags, you can’t always tell the difference, but it is the hot water that reveals what was already in the bag. So many times we want to blame our sinful actions on our circumstances. As if going through a hard time gives us a right to say or act in a way that we claim is uncharacteristic of us. But we know that our hearts are deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. When those wrong words, those wrong actions come out, is it the circumstance that caused them? Or is the circumstance, the “hot water” we are in, only revealing what was already in our heart? I don’t like the answer to that one. In Mark 7, Jesus was questioned by the Pharisees about his disciples not washing their hands, and he replies, “there is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man.” Later, when they are alone, his disciples ask about what He meant. He explains to them, “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.” I must constantly be striving to keep my heart pure before God so that when hot water does come - and it always does - then what comes out will leave a pleasant taste for those who are around.
There are different times in my life when I have been the carrots and looked strong, but lost my strength. I know that there are times when I allowed my heart to become like the egg, and even though I looked the same on the outside, inside I was hard. I want to be like the coffee bean (or the tea bag) and influence my surroundings. But more than just changing the surroundings, I want it to be a sweet and lovely flavor/fragrance. I don’t want to just color the hot water, I want to make it better! And I want it to be something others can look at, and benefit from, and say “Wow! Look what God did through her!”
I was thinking of all of these things this morning as I drove back to work from a court date in another county. Another setback. Another disappointment. Another “pot of hot water.” Another time to face those I struggle to forgive. The tears were flowing down my cheeks as I drove, and even for the first few minutes when I was back in my office. It would be so easy to give in to self-pity, hatred, or bitterness. But I want to be different. I resolve that I will be different.
James said to "count it all joy" when we face trials of different kinds because it produces patience in our lives. Today, I am thankful for the hot water...for the trials that show me what I truly am and how far I still have to go to be like my Lord.
