Chocolate Emergencies

A few years ago, a coworker gave me a ceramic pot with the words “Emergency Chocolate” printed on the outside.  One thing I’ve noticed is that nothing creates a chocolate emergency like having chocolate on hand.  So much so that when an actual emergency arises, I never have any chocolate left to treat my emergency.  My stash has all been used up due to aggravating phone calls, runs in my nylons, broken nails, exasperating hair days, never ending seasonal allergies, depressing cloudy days, celebratory sunny days, the first day of spring, summer, fall and winter, long conference calls, sugar lows, and basically any slight bump in the road that I can pretend is an emergency.

Ah yes, even at this moment I dream of chocolate wrapped around an almond or a dried strawberry dipped in dark chocolate.  The bitter sweetness melts slowly in my mouth leaving me with….the desire for more chocolate and a cup of coffee heavy with cream. 

Since my own stash of chocolate is used up from non-emergencies, when a true emergency arises, I’m forced to look for provisions elsewhere.  Deep in my bottom desk drawer I uncover some hard candy leftover from Christmas; but when you need chocolate, you need chocolate.  I am now forced to broaden my foraging to those unsuspecting co-workers and good souls who still keep a candy dish on their desks.  I walk straight past the community candy dish; it’ll only have cheap sugary candies left over from Valentine’s Day.  The good stuff got eaten up a couple weeks ago.  No, I have to go off the grid; I’ve got to find the chocolate.  I know a few people; and although it may involve a little begging, I can usually track some down.

The funny thing is that when I stop eating chocolate, really stop eating it for several days, I stop craving it.  The other remarkable thing is that once I start eating it again, chocolate always tastes oh so good.  I never truly lose my taste for chocolate.

Delving into Scripture is much the same way.  When I wander away from God’s Word, I stop craving it, but the more I study and honestly spend time reading, meditating, and examining what God has put there for me, the more excited I become.  I see words that I want to look up in the original language.  I see correlations between events and people of the Bible.  I hear a Scripture and get lost thinking about how it applies to my own life.

Many years ago, when I was a second grader, I was challenged to memorize Psalm 19.   Verse 10 has always remained a favorite.  “More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.” The psalmist desired God’s special revelation and compared God’s Law to gold, the most valuable article of trade in the Near East, and to honey, the sweetest substance a person could consume – the most delicious candy of that time.

Do you still crave God’s Word?  If not, it might be time to start hunting down something that was put there just for you.

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