Check Your Breadfruit

I woke up with one thing on my mind — roasted breadfruit. Not just any breadfruit, mind you, but one that was gifted to me. Now, if you’re Jamaican, you know this is no ordinary gift. A roasted-then-fried breadfruit alongside ackee and saltfish is a plate that can bring you close to tears of joy. That, my friend, is Sunday morning delight.

So I did everything right. I scored my little “X” on the top, preheated the oven, slid it in, and waited with anticipation. When it came out? Ohhh, it was a beauty. Golden, smelling heavenly, looking like it just came off a magazine cover titled “The Perfect Breadfruit.” My mouth watered as I pictured tomorrow’s feast.

But when I peeled it, sliced it, and popped the first piece into my mouth… disappointment slapped me straight across the face. Bitter! The breadfruit was bitter.

After all that work, after following all the steps Google told me to do, I still ended up with a heartbreak on a plate. I could cry.

Lying in bed, stomach grumbling, I started to think. Isn’t life just like that breadfruit sometimes? Things look right. They smell right.

We do what we think is the right thing. But when we finally taste the fruit of it — bitterness.

Jesus warned us about this kind of thing. He called out the Pharisees for being like whitewashed tombs — polished on the outside but full of decay inside (Matthew 23:27). Sometimes what glitters isn’t gold.

And here’s another lesson that hit me: I followed Google’s steps to the letter, yet still ended up with bitterness. Isn’t that like us sometimes? We follow the world’s “recipes for success” — the five steps, the top ten hacks, the expert opinions — but without God’s wisdom, we end up with disappointment. Proverbs 14:12 says it plain:

“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” Translation? The breadfruit becomes a reminder that divine instruction outweighs human directions.

Here’s the nugget I walked away with:

Life will hand you “breadfruits” — gifts, opportunities, even blessings. But not every gift is ready when you are. Some require discernment. Some require God’s timing. And sometimes, God allows the bitterness to teach us a greater lesson than sweetness ever could.

I didn’t get to enjoy fried breadfruit with my ackee and saltfish that morning. But what I did get was a reminder:

Don’t judge by appearances. Don’t rely only on man’s recipe. And don’t be afraid of life’s bitter bites — because sometimes God uses them to season your soul.

My breadfruit may have been bitter, but the lesson was sweet. And maybe that’s the point — sometimes God lets us bite into bitterness so we can taste His truth. So don’t waste your breadfruit moment — let it season your soul.

At the end of the day, it’s not about how good your breadfruit looks, but whether the inside matches the outside. Time for a breadfruit check.

Merry Melodious Melody