Image: coconutbenefits.ca
And so I’m pressing on, seeking answers to all the many questions on my mind… searching through my heart to see if He’s saying anything at all and all I hear is the silence… looking through all of His creation, hoping to find a clue… a meaning to all of these mysteries we face, but everywhere I turn, all I feel is the fierce wind piercing through my skin… but still I press…
Then He draws my attention to the coconut and I begin to wonder how that answers the questions. The coconut… how does that explain this confusion that I feel? The storm is raging and it just might be getting to me soon. You say fear not! And I’m trying so hard to trust at this time, yet all you have to say to me is ‘the coconut’.
1. THE THICK HUSK
The thick, fibrous shell most often defines us, hiding the real thing. So much hate in our society today and all we have to show our fellow man is the thick back, the fronting, not wanting to come across to him/her as vulnerable.
Image: mamaguru.com
He says “I gave you that covering to protect you from the raging storm. So that when life begins to hit hard, it won’t break you. How come you use it to the detriment of the one I have commanded you to love so dearly?
As long as you have your fibrous husk on you, no matter how many times you fall, you’ll remain standing and not one of your bones (shell) will be broken (Ps 34:19-20).
That is why I gave you the covering you’re boasting about now. As long as you remain under the shadow of My wings, your husk stays on. But when you’re separated from the vine, you become vulnerable. First thing the world will get rid of is your covering, then they’ll break you to pieces and devour you”.
That got me thinking… how many times have I been hurt, making up my mind to build up a wall of defense around me, and hurting other innocent people in the process? It’s funny how God gives us things as well as a manual to use but we decide to use them our own way.
2. THE TENDER FRUIT
Life is a lot easier when we’re still tender fruits. As God compared me to a coconut, He took me back to how I trusted Him totally as a kid and talked to him when I didn’t have any other choice. How I innocently leaned on Him and cried to Him first before thinking of whom to call.
The tender coconut contains about 90-95% water… Oh how swiftly the Spirit flows when we first welcome Him into our lives. Like water, purging us through and through, we lean on Him for virtually everything.
Those were times when we had less responsibilities, lesser problems and our cares were not centered on what to eat or wear or where to sleep… so what happens as we grow up and become like the half mature and then fully mature coconut.
Instead of the water we once possessed through and through, we begin to possess milk and think oh we’re better now; we’re stronger now on our own, we do not need any more help. How soon we forget that it’s the water that’s richer, not the milk in the coconut.
And so God says “Remember Me now, in the days of your youth (Ecc 12:1)… It’s better for Me to use you now while you’re still young and tender; then alone do you have the tendency to trust Me totally and not bombard Me with so many questions.
I have need of you now… now that you still feel tender, yet full of life, vigour and natural sweetness. You think the harder and stronger you become, the less of Me you need? Only I can teach you wisdom and carry you through this world I have created even as you grow older… (Isa 46:4-5)”.
Again, I was stopped on my tracks. Do I become tasteless and over mature like the coconut as I grow older? I am called to be the salt of the earth (Matt 5:13). Growing up should form me and mould me into a better person with purpose and a vision.
Yet, I just might be growing into a totally different person from the master plan… why? Probably because the older I get, the farther I go from the master planner.
The more pride evolves on the inside of me and births the thought that I can do well all by myself… No… My body is the temple of the Most High… Is my body even fit for Him to reside in? No… I do badly all by myself!
3. THE LIQUID – WATER OR MILK?
Image: mindbodygreen.com
As long as the coconut stays tender, its water is sweet and nutritious. Brings healing to the dehydrated. What caught my attention is the fact that coconut water doesn’t taste like coconut, it has a totally different flavor on its own and the taste and form of the liquid varies by the age of the coconut.
So when I’m broken, what will you find? After all is said and done, after forming “tough nut” and you get to come close, what will you find? Is my character pleasing? How do I affect lives when I speak? It’s not what goes in that makes or mars a man, it’s what comes out (Matt 15:11). The fact that a fruit is what it is doesn’t make it edible or full of good taste.
Remember (1 Sam 16:7), we’re so concerned about the outward appearance, but what God is concerned about is the heart, our thoughts, our words and not our body. I would liken the liquid in a coconut to our hearts, have we become as milk because we’ve grown older from the little child who once trusted?
Have we become so rigid due to old age that God has to make things happen to us by force before we listen or obey? Where is our sweetness? How come we cause pain to people when they come in contact with us when we’re supposed to bring life and healing to them instead?
Again, He says, “I am the Potter, you are the clay. I do not want you to be caught in a lifetime of sorrow… You’re my chosen epistle, and your weakness cannot make Me change My mind because I have not chosen you because of your strength.
You cannot get yourself into anything that I cannot handle. I will make you, if you will let me. Even if you don’t? I will make you anyways… so why not be tender and sweet so that this process will be easy for ‘your’ sake?”
At this point, I had nothing to say… I asked for a clue and I got this! So I asked myself instead, Am I a Coconut?
Written by Amy @emrysmilla202
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