Malt Balls Or Milk Duds?
Ever since I was a little girl I have always loved Milk Duds! Anything with chocolate and caramel I am all over it. I love the flavor! I love the texture! I love the overall experience when I eat Milk Duds. On the other hand, I can not eat Malt Balls. I hate the texture. I hate the flavor. I hate the overall experience. The crazy thing is that Milk Duds and Malt Balls look very similar.
They both are covered in chocolate, and they are both round but, the inside is a whole different experience. I will go along in life and someone might offer me a Malt Ball. I know I don’t like them, but I always think to my self, “Maybe this time it will taste good to me.” So I take it and put it in my mouth. As I start chewing on it, that old familiar yucky flavor starts to permeate my mouth, and I try to get it out as quick as possible. It is interesting: Two different candies that look very closely the same, yet taste so differently.
This reminds me of constantly going back to a failure or regret. No matter how many times you visit it, it will always be what it was. The enemy will tell you, “Just try it!” “Just take a look back at this mistake or that regret as maybe this time it won’t affect you like it has.” Reality is it will always affect you until you allow God to bring healing and restoration in that area of your life. The good news is that God takes the very thing that was distasteful and makes it beautiful. God can take the ashes in our lives and make beauty out of them.
Isaiah 61:1 – 3
“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.”
All that said, there are times God will allow us to go back and taste our “malt balls” to help us walk through the pain and receive the reward of healing and a new beginning. Sometimes we have to go back to go forward. Sometimes we don’t have to go back. Ask yourself a few questions about your struggle you keep dealing with: “Am I rehashing over and over again in my mind what happened and it is tormenting me?” or “Do I need to finally look at some areas of my past to bring closure and healing?” Who knows the very thing that you thought was distasteful can turn out to be the very thing God uses in your ministry.
Your sister in Christ,
Pastor Kris Belfils
