By Danny Minton

I remember a story that I had heard several years ago about a young woman who came to her mother to share some challenges she was having in life. Her mother listened briefly, then said, “Let me show you something.” The two entered the kitchen, where her mother took three pots of water and set them on the stove. In one, she put some fresh, crisp carrots. She placed two eggs in the second, and in the third, she placed some ground coffee. She turned on the burners and set the timer for 20 minutes. The two sat down and discussed the daughter’s troubling situation until the timer went off. They went to the stove, where the young woman’s mother removed the carrots and placed them in a bowl. In a second bowl, she placed the eggs. She then ladled some of the coffee and put it in a cup. 

She had her daughter feel the carrots. They had gone in crisp but were now soft. She told her how some people, when they face challenges, go in strong but allow the things they face to weaken them. Next, she told her daughter to crack one of the eggs. The egg had become hard-boiled with its time in the boiling water. She shared how others, when facing challenges, start strong but allow the struggles to harden them. Finally, she had her take a sip of the coffee. She could smell the aroma and taste the smoothness as she sipped the coffee. Her mother then asked her, “Do you see the difference? Each of these went into the same water for the same amount of time. The water weakened one, and one was hardened. The third one changed the water.

Each of us faces challenges in life. When we do, we have choices to make. We can allow ourselves to weaken with stress, give up, whine, and complain about what we are going through. We may allow our challenges to make us hard and bitter, changing how we face life and people. We become insensitive and uncaring. Our third choice is instead of letting our challenges change us, we use them to change the world around us. We look for solutions and change the circumstances, seeking ways to better ourselves. Instead of letting the water change us, we change the water.

In the movie “Apollo 13,” there’s a scene where the air in the space module is becoming toxic. The scrubbers that clean the air to provide oxygen need to be replaced. The problem arises when the scrubbers available are square but must fit in a round compartment. Instead of panic, one of the head technicians enters the room and piles several items on a table that would be in the spacecraft. He then says, holding up a round filter, something like, “We have to make this (pointing at the things on the table) fit into the compartment for this (holding up a round filter).” Instead of fretting about the situation or saying it was impossible, they turned the challenge into water and solved the problem.

Paul wrote to the Philippian church about how he faced many challenges in sharing Christ. He tells how he found contentment in all situations that he went through. He spoke of the difficulties of knowing hunger and having little to live on. He also talked about how he sometimes had more than he needed. He then encouraged them to look to Jesus for the strength to endure life’s challenges. “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” (Phil. 4:13 NASB) It is not a statement that nothing is impossible but a commitment to look for the strength to endure our challenges with the confidence that Christ will help us through anything we face.

We all have challenges, some of which we share and others unique. Whatever we face can positively or negatively impact how they affect us, depending on how we approach them. When it comes time to face the challenges that life throws at us, instead of letting the boiling water of the situation change us, we must learn to change the water.

Danny Minton is a former Elder and minister at Southern Hills Church of Christ