I found myself asking that question the other day driving down the interstate. I spend a lot of time on the road, and spend most of it listening to the radio. While listening to a local station, the old line, made famous by Tom Hanks in the movie “Forest Gump” was quoted: “Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re going to get.” I have heard this line hundreds of times, and found myself using it occasionally myself to crack a joke. But this time, I couldn’t help but wonder… Is life like a box of chocolates? My answer has to be yes, but there are several things that lead me to this answer.
First, let’s look at it from the angle of the candy in the box. You have a bunch of candy, all similar as in they are all chocolates, but still completely different. Some are milk chocolate, some are dark chocolate, some have nuts, some are fruity, some are solid chocolate, some are cream filled. Even though they are different, they are there for a reason: to be appealing for anyone that may walk by. Not everyone may like the cream-filled ones, but they buy the box anyways because of all the others they do like. And besides, they may know someone that does like the cream-filled ones. Such as it should be in the church: You may not agree with everything, and it may not be your style, but as long as it glorifies and pleases GOD, you shouldn’t shun the things you don’t like, or worse, shun the whole thing. The thing you may not be fond of in the church may be the very thing that leads other people to CHRIST. Instead, you should engage in the church, and even if part of it is not your “taste”, and you may not want to fully “partake” in that part, you should still surround it with prayer, support it, and let the ones that it does appeal to use it to bring honor and glory to the LORD. And remember, just because you like the solid milk chocolate, doesn’t mean the next guy will…
Now let’s look at it from the angle I prefer… the physical eating of the candy! Besides, this is what Forest was talking about! Back in the early to mid 70’s, where the story was based, boxes of assorted chocolate were just that… assorted. There was no paper in the box that had a little layout of what candy was where. You just picked it up, bit into it, and hoped it wasn’t the one you didn’t like. Now days, there is the map – you can avoid the ones you don’t like! No surprises. But there are several good points here.
The “candy map” represents the Word of God. If read the map, and follow it closely, you can spend a lot more time enjoying life instead of struggling through it or dreading what may happen next. That is not to say it will all be perfect! Occasionally, you might forget to check the map, or hold it upside down(as I do), or someone unknowingly switched the chocolates on you. When you bite the bad candy, it causes you to better appreciate the good. Same with life: sometimes you have to go though the valley, so you appreciate the mountain top. Also, you didn’t not eat the candy you dislike on your own. How do you know you don’t like it to begin with? Chances are you have tried it before and didn’t like it. And with that knowledge, and the map to guide you, you knew not to eat it. When you get to the mountain top of life, you know you didn’t do it on your own thanks to the experience in the valley. If you just open the box, and throw away the map, you will not enjoy the box as well as if you may have with it. As a matter of fact, some people just give up and stop all together if they get 2 or 3 bad ones in a row. Then look… all of those good chocolates gone to waste just because of 2 or 3 bad ones. If only you had read the map.
So, in closing, I agree: Life is like a box of chocolates: you never know what you’re going to get… BUT, there are ways to ensure that what you do get is more enjoyable.
