“Life is like a box of chocolates…”

I recently rewatched the comedy-classic Forrest Gump from 1994. The movie follows Forrest, a man with a low IQ, who finds himself in the middle of a series of important historical events. Comically, he could care less about these crucial events, and only wants to find back to his first love, Jenny. 

In his thick southern accent, while sitting on a park bench, Forrest explains life. He says, “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get.” 

This quote stuck out to me. What on earth could he mean? 

After a few days, I came to a possible conclusion…

This mix of good and bad is like our everyday life.

In a box of chocolates there are chocolates that are delicious, like the mint or salted caramel flavored ones. However, there are always the ones that you would rather leave for someone else to eat too, like the raspberry filled or the liquor flavored chocolates. (I might just be picky when it comes to chocolate.) This mix of good and bad is like our everyday life. We have really good days and we have bad days that we would have rather left in the box. In life, there will be things that happen that leave a good aftertaste, and others that make you feel sick. It's just life. 

This analogy of life as a box of chocolates reminds me of Job i the Old Testament. The bible describes him as “ blameless and upright” (Job 1:1). He had many sons and daughters and a great number of livestock - he was blessed. God was so pleased with him that he once told Satan about his beloved child. Satan went on to challenge God by saying he only is blameless and upright because he had only eaten the good chocolates his whole life. God responded by saying “Very well then, everything he has is in your power…” (Job 1:12). This is when Satan force-fed Job the bad chocolates. Job’s bad chocolates came all at once. All his livestock was stolen, a fire killed many of his servants, and a great wind caused his house to fall, killing all of his children. He had lost everything he owned and loved. We find Job’s unorthodox response in chapter 1:21  “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised”.  

And again in chapter 2 we see that Job is cursed with sores over his whole body- a really bad chocolate.

Keep in mind that Job wasn’t involved in the conversation between God and Satan. He had no idea why so much bad was happening to him. However, through the thick he did know that God is good and that he is wise and all knowing. He knew that God had a plan. In response he did not sin - or turn away from God, as the Satan was expecting. Just imagine the look on Satan's face! Job just kept swallowing the bad chocolates, one after another and continued praising God. 

I will allow you to read the book of Job by yourself, but I want to jump to the end where we see God's plan with Jobs life post-chocolate and see how it applies to us. 

God has a plan - a future blessing in his Son, Jesus Christ.

“The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part…” (Job 42:12). Job was blessed more than ever before! But does this apply to us? Of course! We will go through trials and tribulations (bad chocolate), but God has a plan - a future blessing in his Son, Jesus Christ.  Life is not easy, but wandering with the creator, all-powerful father and having faith that he is good and has a plan for you makes it easier.

It's important to note that Job did not receive the blessing as a reward because he swallowed the chocolate without complaining, but instead as a gift because he had faith in God. 

You might ask yourself, “What about the good chocolate?” Yes, there are plenty of those in life as well. When we receive a good chocolate we should thank and worship God for the wonderful gift, whatever it may be. Take the Gospels  as an example. Jesus was a blessing to many; he healed, he saved, he loved. What was the response of these people? Many people became servants to their peers, people donated all their money, people loved because Jesus first loved them. (1 John 4:19). Love is the appropriate response when we taste the sweet taste of the good chocolate. 

Psalm 34:1 - I will praise the Lord no matter what happens. I will constantly speak of his glories and grace.