The parable of the M&Ms

 

I have this funny way of receiving revelation right in the middle of everyday moments; recognizing things that the Lord wants me to understand--things that should be pretty plain and easy to understand, but maybe I haven't fully grasped them yet.  I had this type of epiphany about how I react to the Lord’s proposed “surprises” or blessings for me when I gave my 19 month old daughter some M&Ms last week.

She’s still at the age where she puts different things in her mouth, especially if they look like food, but she’s also far more wary than she used to be. She’s had enough experience to know some things aren’t very yummy, and have consequences.

So the other day after lunch I gave her some M&Ms.  Only a few to try, maybe 5 or 6 total.  Well, I tried to give her M&Ms but at first she was not going to have anything to do with them.  I’m pretty sure I even told her they were chocolate. But she was very skeptical. They don’t really look like chocolate to someone who doesn’t know. So she tried them—kinda. She put them in and spit them out. They don’t really feel or taste like chocolate right away either. I tried to convince her it was really chocolate and have her keep one in her mouth long enough to figure it out, or to bite down on it and really give it an honest try.  But she just wouldn’t. 

I didn’t want to force feed her the M&M, and the beginnings of my “A-HA! moment” has sprouted; I had begun to recognize my own skepticism in her behavior, so I decided to break one in half and help her see what was really inside.  When she could see the chocolate, she was interested. Once it was broken in half, she willingly popped half in, and once she could taste the chocolate with that first half, then she was happy to eat the other M&Ms.

The Lord has given me some blessings coated in challenges, and I have sometimes reacted much as my daughter did to those M&Ms.  My own thoughts might go something like: “I know this is supposed to be a blessing, but it doesn’t look like a blessing. It doesn't feel or taste or smell like a blessing." If I gave the "blessing" (AKA trial) a half-hearted attempt, I felt like “I tried it”, (and then spit it out or rejected it as no good) when I really hadn’t tried that hard. It does seem like once I bite down and just get to what’s at the heart of it, give it a little time & effort and trust, the true nature of my blessing becomes much more clear. As I go through life's experiences, I am thankfully becoming more accepting of the M&Ms the Lord has to offer me, knowing that He gives good things, even if sometimes I can't quite recognize them at first.