Musing - Are you a carrot, egg or coffee bean?

Hebraic Musing - Are you a carrot, egg or coffee bean?

Joseph's life provides us with a classic example of a person who totally commits to living a godly life regardless of the circumstances encountered.  He was hated by his brothers and caught in improper upbringing. He was sold off into the hands of foreigners and then to the Egyptians. He spent years in prison and when he got out he was thrown into prison again by a false allegation re Potiphar’s wife. Joseph went through one storm after another; however, his faith in God remained unshaken.

The adversity that Joseph faced could have easily caused him to turn in the wrong direction many times over; but he did not. 

This reminds me of an age-old story about a daughter who complains to her mother about the circumstances in her life. 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.

In response, the mother boiled three pots of water and added a carrot to one, an egg to another, and coffee beans to the third. After a half hour, the mother tells her daughter to take a look.

Each of the three items had been placed into the same situation – boiling hot water – but they all reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, but came out weak and mushy. The egg went in soft and fluid, but came out hard and unyielding. The coffee beans were unique. They used the boiling water to become something better – a delicious cup of coffee. The mother then explains to her daughter that for every circumstance in life, we choose the consequence. We can let our circumstances weaken us; we can let them harden our hearts; or we can use them to become better.

“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?”

Joseph chose to become better and to overcome the circumstances of life. And in fact became a typology of Jesus Christ.

How do you react to life? Do you let the circumstances in your life bring you down, or do you use them as a springboard to reach higher? The choice is ours.

Points to ponder

Are you more like the carrot, the egg, or the coffee beans?

L’Shanah Tovah (Happy New Year)                                             January 1, 2013

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd