Wednesday, March 12, 2014

THE LESSON OF THE COFFEE BEAN

It's been quite a while since I've posted. Since losing my job in January, my fulltime job has been looking for another job! I would be lying if I didn't say it's been discouraging. I've had a few interviews, one where I even felt like I might get the job, but nothing has materialized so far. I've lost my health insurance and unemployment has not kicked in yet. I am trying very hard to fight off depression, but Satan keeps on getting up in my face telling me that I didn't deserve what happened to me. Perhaps from man's standpoint, I didn't. But it is God's standpoint that matters! The one thing that I have got to remember is that God doesn't put on us more than we can bear (Corinthians 10:13) and that he always provides all our needs (Philippians 4:19).

That leads me to the following post and reminds me that my genuine faith in the Lord will keep me strong and He is going to see me through yet another trial that I must go through.

The Lesson of the Coffee Bean

A daughter complained to her father about how hard things were for her. "As soon as I solve one problem," she said, "another on e comes up. I'm tired of struggling."

Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen where he filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to a boil. In one he placed carrots, in the second, eggs, and in the last, ground coffee beans. He let them sit and boil, without saying a word.

The daughter impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing. After a while, he went over and turned off the burners. He fished out the carrots and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. He poured the coffee into a bowl. Turning to her he asked, "Darling, what do you see?"

"Carrots, eggs, and coffee, " she replied.

He brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. He asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. She smiled, as she tasted its rich flavor.
 
She asked, "What does it mean, Father?" He explained that each of them had faced the same diversity - boiling water - but each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting, but after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.

The egg was fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside hardened.

The ground coffee beans were unique, however. By being in the boiling water, they changed the water.

He asked his daughter, "When adversity knocks on your door, which are you?"

John 16:33 "I have told you these things, so that in me you will have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
Romans 5:3-5 "Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who he has given us."
Romans 8:31-39 "What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us al-how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died-more than that, who was raised to life-is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: For your sake we face death all day long: we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. No in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Romans 12:21 "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."
James 1:2-4 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."
1Peter 4:1 "Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin."


 

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