Carrots, eggs and coffee beans.

I heard a message at my church yesterday that absolutely blew me away! The main theme was about change. Change is a natural thing. If a 3 year old never gets any taller or develops in there personality more then something is wrong. Same with our lives in general. When change comes, the unknown follows. And when something is unfamiliar it can lead to challenges, even trials. But, how do we respond to the trials when they arrive. My pastor described it to us this way. There are 3 pots of boiling water. One has a carrot inside, another an egg and the last ground coffee. Now the carrot used to be strong and firm, but after being exposed to trials (water) it grew soft and weak. The egg was once fragile and innocent on the inside, but after being in the water it grew hard (it looked the same from the outside, but when you dug deeper, only then could you see a difference). The coffee did something the other two didn't. Instead of it changing, IT changed the environment that it was in. The coffee was actually at its best after being through the trials! So, how do we respond when change and trials come? Are we like the carrot. Strong in ourselves relying on no one, not even God? Because there is only so much we can take on our own before we become weak. Are we like the egg? Pure and innocent, until trials come and our defense mechanisms come up and we become hard so that we don't become hurt. OR are we like the coffee? When trials come that is when God shines through us the brightest! The flavor of God should emanate through us when challenges come! And instead of us conforming and breaking under the pressure, the environment we are in (our area of influence) actually can see a significant change in the atmosphere when we are in it! Let God drive. He actually knows where we are going, and He is our strength when we are weak! He is the provider, the one that is the answer no matter the question. Until next time my friends. :)

quote of the day "Be the change you want to see in the world"
scripture of the day. 2 Corinthians 3:18 (yes, I'm going to make you look it up. :P).