Easter 2025: When Adversity Comes

Easter 2025 – When Adversity Comes

Scripture: John 8:12; Mark 10:32-34; 16:9-11; James 1:2-3

Good morning Strangers Rest and happy Easter. This is surely the day the Lord has made so let us rejoice and be glad in it! Today we pause to commemorate the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. If Jesus had not rose from the dead we would not have the opportunity to change where we will spend eternity. Hell and the lake of fire would have been our only option. But today we can praise God and remember why we chose Jesus as our Lord and Savior. He and He alone is truly the only way to the Father, and we see this in John 14:6. “Jesus said to him (Thomas), ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’” This morning, I will be talking to you about adversity. Webster’s dictionary defines adversity as “a state or instance of serious or continued difficulty or misfortune.” This morning, we will be examining the adversity the disciples faced when Jesus was crucified.

Let me begin by sharing a story with you to set the stage. I ask for your indulgence if you have read or heard this story before. The story is called “Carrots, Eggs and Coffee.” “A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up as she was tired of fighting and struggling. Her mother, after listening to her, rose and took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots of water and placed each on the stove on high heat. Soon the water in each pot came to a boil. In the first pot she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last pot she placed ground coffee beans. She let them boil without saying a word.

After about twenty minutes, she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots and the eggs out and placed them in separate bowls. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup. Turning to her daughter, she asked, ‘Tell me what you see.’ ‘Carrots, eggs and coffee,’ she replied. Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother asked her daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hardboiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, ‘What does it mean, mother?’

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. 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, the inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they changed the water. ‘Which are you?’ she asked her daughter. When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?”

Every person that has ever lived and will ever live on this earth will face adversity at some point in their life. They will experience difficult situations that, depending on how they respond to it, could change them forever. It has been said that we are all the sum of our experiences and in some ways that is a true statement. Our experiences have shaped how we see the world. Although we cannot change past experiences, we can change their lasting impact on our lives and, this is important, how future experiences impact our lives. Jesus died on the cross so that our experiences do not define us. He died on the cross so that we could live victoriously in a world that desires to destroy us spiritually.

If you remember nothing else from this message today, please remember this: “What God has shared with you in the Light, do not forget in the darkness.” I want you to let that sink in for a moment. When things are going right in our lives, it is easier for us to remember the words of Jesus (the Light) as we walk in our perceived blessings. Jesus said, “……I am the light of the world: he that follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the Light of life.” (John 8:12b) Jesus is our Light and our adversity can at times represent darkness. It is during these times of adversity that we can and often struggle to remember the encouraging words of our Lord and Savior. We are not alone as the disciples also struggled with this.