Once, during a season of significant life pressures, the Lord revealed to me something that revolutionized my life. I was hanging out with the Lord and out of the blue He spoke to me the phrase, “Carrots and eggs.”

The phrase took me by surprise and it seemed an odd thing to say, so I asked the Lord what was He meant.
He shared with me that you can take a carrot and an egg and put them into the same pot of boiling water but you get different results. The longer the carrot was in the pot of boiling water, the softer it would get. But, the longer the egg was in the water, the harder that it would become.

Again I asked the Lord to clarify what He was trying to say. He told me we all experience seasons where we are in the boiling water of tribulations, persecutions and sufferings. How we respond determines whether we become an egg who is hardened in our hearts or we become a carrot who is more tender and humble. My Heavenly Father pointed out the difference is the egg has a shell that protects and covers it, while the carrot has nothing to cover and protect it from the torrid heat.

If we are in the boiling water of life and we seek to put up walls and protect ourselves from the pressures, persecutions and trials of the world it will harden our hearts. If we do not seek to protect ourselves, but open our hearts to the Lord, we will become tenderhearted and humble.

After that revelation I realized that trials and tribulations were an opportunity for proven character and hope to be established in our hearts. (Romans 5:3-5) Also the boiling waters of life can be an opportunity to become, “perfect, complete, lacking in nothing!” (James 1:2-5) The key when facing the tribulations of this world is to rest in the provision and protection of my Heavenly Father, and not my strength, my resources and my self-protection.

Are you in a season of “boiling water” in your life? When you are, is your first reaction to put up walls or turn to the Lord? Do you see the pressures, trials, and persecutions of your life as a burden or an opportunity for the Lord to work?

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