Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
(Psalm 34:8)
In today’s culture, the romanticized version of love creates unrealistic expectations that will never sustain a relationship. Love is not always going to look pretty or be Instagram post worthy, and it’s not going to always feel romantic.
There is much we can learn about love from—A Box of Chocolates—the most popular gift given on Valentine’s Day.
Inside a red heart-shaped decorative box, there is an assortment of square, rectangular, circular, oval, bumpy, and foil-wrapped chocolates.
Typically, a box of chocolates has square or rectangular chocolates filled with a crunchy or chewy toffee or caramel filling. The rounded chocolates have soft creamy fillings like vanilla or raspberry. Foil wrapped chocolates have a liquid center like cherry or solid chocolate. The chocolate with a bumpy surface has a nut inside like an almond or pecan sometimes covered in coconut.
Choosing my favorite chocolate is easy because of the bumpy surface. But, sometimes I choose a less than favorable chocolate like the one with the caramel filling.
Forrest Gump said, “My momma always said, life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”
Love is like a box of chocolates. When properly understood, love means to open ourselves to the bitter as well as the sweet.
When love is unpalatable, it is an invitation to draw closer to God. We miss the Father’s heart when we lose the taste of his presence.
Though I’ve never had COVID, the temporary loss of taste that some people experience must be unsettling. I can only imagine how elated it has to be to taste food again.
Throughout the Bible, God is the Master Chef providing a culinary experience for our spiritual nourishment and satisfaction.
How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth! (Psalm 119:103)
Your words were found and I ate them, and Your word became to me the gladness and joy of my heart. (Jeremiah 15:16)
Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. (Psalm 34:8)
To “taste and see” that the Lord is good means we are to taste that the Lord is good for ourselves. When we seek God, we will experience the palatable taste of who he is and know that he is good.
Tasting is just the start. When we know that the Lord is good, we will see him as good more than the good that the world offers. But we can only “taste” and “see” that the Lord is good if we get close enough to him.
A boy once asked his father, “What is the size of God?” Then the father looked up at the sky and saw a plane and asked his son, “What is the size of the plane?” The boy replied, “It is very small. I can hardly see it.” Then the father took him to the airport. As they approached a plane, the father asked his son, “How big is the plane now?” “Wow Dad, it’s huge!” he yelled. Then the father told him, “God’s size depends on how close or far you are from God. The closer you are to God, the greater and greater God will be in your life.”
Are you in a uncomfortable place when it comes to love? Don’t be discouraged by the flowers, the Hallmark cards, or the red heart-shaped boxes of chocolate that are on display during this month of love.
It is when we taste and see that the Lord is good, we can take refuge in him—even when love is less than favorable like chocolate with caramel filling, and not the sweet taste of an almond covered in coconut that I longed for.
Your longing is not hidden from God. Psalm 38:9 says, All my longings lie open before you, O Lord; my sighing is not hidden from you.
Prayer: Lord, I pray that love, whether bitter or sweet, will never take me away from your presence. You are good when life is bitter. You are good when life is sweet. You have loved me with an everlasting love, and you have drawn me with lovingkindness. Nothing could ever match the pursuing love you have for me. You are my truest Valentine.
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