How do you handle adversity...

A few weeks ago in Sunday School our teacher shared the following with us...I kinda found it interesting so I thought I'd share...

How do you Handle Adversity...

A young woman went to her mother and told her about 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. 

                Her mother took her to the kitchen.  She filled three pots with water.  In the first pot, she placed a carrot, in the second she placed an egg and the last she placed an herbal tea bag.  She let them sit and boil without saying a word.

                In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners.  She fished the carrot out and placed it in a bowl.  She pulled the egg out and placed it in a bowl.  Then she ladled the herbal tea out and placed it in a bowl. 

                On the counter sat three identical bowls.  Turning to her daughter, she asked, “Tell me what you see?”  “Carrot, egg and herbal tea,” she replied

                Mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots.  She noted that the carrots got soft. 

                She than asked her to take the egg and break it.  After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.

                Finally, she observed what had become of the herbal tea bag as it had steeped in the boiling water.  “What’s the point, mother?”

                Her mother explained that each of those objects had faced the same adversity – boiling water – but each reacted differently.

                The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting.  However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. 

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

                The herbal tea bag was unique, however.  After it was in the boiling water it had changed the water. 

                “Which are you?”  she asked her daughter.  “When trials and adversity knock on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or an herbal tea bag?”

                Think of this: Which am I?

                Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity, do I wilt and become soft and lose my straight?

                Am I the egg that starts with a passive heart, but changes with the heat?  Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a financial hardship or some other trial and tribulation, have I become hardened and stiff?  Does my shell look the same, but on the inside, am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and a hardened heart?

                Or, am I like the herbal tea?  The tea bag actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain.  When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor.  If you are like the herbal tea bag, when things are at their worst, you become better and change the situation around you.  When the hours are the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate to another level?

                How do you handle adversity?

                Like a CARROT,

                Like an EGG,

                Like an HERBAL TEA BAG?

 

I know which one I am...how about you?!?  Reading this made me stop and think perhaps there are some changes I need to make in my life!