Bitter Chocolate

Bible Reading: Romans 8:26-28

Silas walked into the kitchen and saw a bunch of things sitting on the counter—flour, sugar, eggs, and a thick, delicious-looking chocolate bar. At the sight of the chocolate, his eyes got big and round. I’m sure Mom won’t mind if I have a taste, he thought. So he picked up the chocolate bar, broke off a piece, and put it in his mouth.

Immediately, his face contorted. “Yuck!” he exclaimed, grabbing a napkin and spitting out the chocolate just as Mom walked in. When she saw what he had done, she smiled wryly.

“That candy is gross! What is it?” asked Silas, wiping his mouth with the napkin. “It looks like chocolate, but it’s not!”

“Actually, it is chocolate, but it’s baking chocolate, not candy,” Mom explained. “It tastes bitter because it doesn’t have sugar in it like candy bars do.”

“Well, it tastes terrible! You don’t put that stuff in your cake, do you?”

“When I make chocolate cake, I do. But I also add sugar and eggs and other things. When all of it is mixed together, it tastes delicious. You do like my cake, don’t you?”

“Yeah, but I had no idea chocolate cake was made from yucky stuff like that!” said Silas.

Mom laughed. “I can remember tasting bitter chocolate when I was a kid. My mom used the experience to help me understand the way God works in our lives. She pointed out that when a baker mixes the bitter chocolate with other cake ingredients, the result is something good. That’s like what God does for us. He takes all the things that happen to us and works them together for our good.”

“So, even though we don’t like everything that happens, we know God will use it for good?” Silas asked.

“Exactly. Even though some things we go through in life are very hard and painful, God can use those things to help us grow in our relationship with Jesus. Since He became human and suffered and died to save us, Jesus understands the hard things we go through, and He promises to help us through them and use them for good.”

Silas grinned. “I’ll remember that every time I eat chocolate cake!”

-Holly F. Cepeda

How About You?

Do you wonder why God allows bad things to happen? Recipes call for all kinds of ingredients to make a good product, and God allows many different experiences to come into your life. He combines them to work out something good for you. So trust in His wisdom and goodness as you go through sickness and health, fun and heartache, ease and hardship, sunshine and rain. God loves you and works everything together for your good.

Today’s Key Verse:
Romans 8:28 (NLV) We know that God makes all things work together for the good of those who love Him.

Today’s Key Thought:

God works everything for your good