Hi, this is Joni Eareckson Tada with a curious but encouraging story.
I wish I could tell you where I heard this story, but this is how I remember it. A teenage girl once complained to her father, a chef, about how hard things were for her. She was dealing with many of the challenges most teenagers struggle with—grades, friends, her appearance, her abilities. She felt like giving up. Her father, the chef, took her into his kitchen where he filled up three pots with water. He placed each pot on a high fire, and soon the water came to a boil. In one pot he placed carrots, in another, he put eggs, and in the third pot, he poured ground coffee. He didn’t say a word, but sat on a stool and waited for the pots to boil up again.
His daughter was pretty impatient with this whole thing. And finally, about 20 minutes later, the chef turned off the burners and fished out the carrots and placed them in a bowl. He did the same with the eggs. He ladled out the coffee in the third bowl. “Okay, just what is all this about?” fumed the daughter. She was stymied as to what all this meant. Her father asked her to reach into one bowl and feel the carrots—she did so and noted that they were soft. Then he asked her to break open the egg—it was hard. Finally she sipped the coffee—it tasted good. When she was done, he explained, “I want you to consider this,” he said. “Because the carrot went into the water hard, but came out soft and limp. The egg went in soft, but came out hard. But what happened to the ground coffee? How did it change? It didn’t,” her father said. “The coffee went in and changed the water. So... which are you?” he asked.
And it’s an interesting question … which are you? Friend, wake up and smell the coffee! You see, when I was first injured, there were a lot of people—injured, facing life-threatening situations, permanent paralysis—all of them in the rehab center with me, and some of them, I’m sorry to say, never made it through. Because a permanent injury or illness ... any damaging situation or deep disappointment can turn the hardest of people inward (I saw strong men become limp and without feelings; they just gave up; they just emotionally disappeared). Then there were others who, before their injuries, were softhearted people. But after their accident? They became hard and calloused... so bitter and resentful.
But then there were those—and many of them were Christians—there were those who changed for the better. And because they changed, everything else around them changed: their family and friends, even nurses at the rehab center … everyone was influenced, everyone was touched. Friend, no matter what hardships you’re facing, when you allow Christ to change your heart, it’ll alter everything else around you. Like those Christians I knew in rehab: when Jesus Christ transformed them, they transformed the people around them—and it wouldn’t have happened without the hot water of hardship. And, hey, I’d like to encourage you with a booklet I’ve written called “God's Hand in Hardship” and you can get your free copy by just clicking on my radio page today at joniandfriends.org. Or you can always write me at Joni and Friends, P.O. Box 3333, Agoura Hills, CA 91376. So whatever is boiling around you today, be sure of this: God is up to something! Could it be a change in your attitude or a change of heart? If so, think of it as a chance to influence others for the good. It’s something to remember with your next cup of Maxwell House.
© Joni and Friends
Used by permission of Joni and Friends
P.O. Box 3333, Agoura Hills, CA 91376