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
