Q: If you take a pot of boiling water and drop an egg and a potato into the pot what happens? A: The egg becomes hard and the potato becomes soft.
This is also what happens to us as Christians when we face trials. The pot of life heats up and the water starts to boil and suddenly we are faced with two choices: We can either allow our hearts to become hardened like an egg or soft like a potato. I have found myself to be both an egg and a potato at times. Trials are hard and I don't like them. When I'm not walking with Jesus it's easy to harden my heart to what God is trying to do in my life. When I am close to Jesus, and I can see that God is trying to use my troubles for good, then my heart begins to soften to what God is doing.
I have to confess that I didn't come up with that analogy on my own. My mom heard it in church yesterday and shared it with me and Aaron over dinner last night. As I was mulling over what Mom had shared with me I said, "I guess we should be Spuds for Jesus then". It's a funny statement and pretty catchy. Although, I wish it was as easy as it sounds to respond correctly to trials. It's my goal to allow that catch phrase to sink into my brain so I'll remember to take my troubles to the Lord. I want to be a person whose heart is softened during trials and not hardened.
I would encourage those of you reading this to join me in being "a Spud for Jesus" as well. :)
Emily, i don't know what sort of trial you're going through, but I praise God for your example of facing it in the Spirit!
ReplyDeleteEmily,
ReplyDeleteFirst I didn't know you had a blog. Second, I plan on reading it all the time now. Third, You're definitely right. Its interesting to see how we handle trials when they show up knocking on our doorstep...almost like we're surprised that something rough is going to happen in our lives.
I'm really glad that you can be a great example for me, to know that your facing life with God right by your side...even though its not always easy.
I love you very much, not only as my cousin but as a sister in Christ!
-Jess
Thanks for the response guys. I should mention that there are no big trials in my life right now. A few little challenges, but they are good training to remind me to keep my eyes on Jesus. I know that they more I allow Him to work in the day to day, the more ready I will be to lean on Him when the big trials come.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Thanks for following me Jonathan and Jessica. :)
ReplyDelete