The Green Lifesaver

By Nina Keegan

When I was a kid my grandmother always had a roll of multicolored Lifesavers in her purse. I remember asking her, "Why are they called Lifesavers?"

She thought carefully and answered, "Well, they are perfect for children, because if you happen to choke on a Lifesaver, there's a hole in the middle designed to help you breathe so your life will be saved."

This, of course, made perfect sense to me and I thought about how brilliant the candy makers were that designed the special candy for grandmothers to give their grandkids without worry.

However, as great as I thought these Lifesavers were, there was still a huge problem with them; when my grandmother would offer us one, we had to take the next one in line in the roll.

I remember closing my eyes and secretly praying against the dreaded green one.

"God please don't let me get a green one. Let my brother get that one!"

My brother equally despised the green ones and we each took turns wishing them on each other - a nice game for six and seven-year-olds.

The green one seemed as though it was always a consolation prize or (gasp) a punishment. Had I done something wrong? Was God mad at me? Why do I always have to get the green one and worse yet ... why does my brother always seem to NEVER get the green one?
After all, I was so much better behaved than him. I continued my rationalization speech to God.

Instead, I would hope and pray for orange or ... wait for it ... ahhh yes, the bright, shiny, brilliant, red, cherry one. The absolute jackpot of the Lifesaver world. The bonafide "God loves me!" - today's a great day - cherry one! Joy!

I laugh looking back at this. Such would be so seemingly important to a child. I remember thinking how funny this was, but life is still kind of like that. Has much changed?

We oftentimes feel like we have the consolation prize in life. We let our joy be based on how well our lives are going at the moment, and we set limits and place constraints on God. We often feel as though God is not there, he's left us - because so much is not going as planned. We let our joy be conditional.

Sometimes we look around and all we see are green Lifesavers. Worse yet, it appears that everyone else is overflowing in the red ones!

We ask ourselves if we have been forgotten about or if God really cares about our problems, our issues, our needs or wants. We sometimes ask,"Why?" Especially when we have self-proclaimed that those seemingly blessed people don't half live right. But who are we to judge? We do not know the reasons for everything nor would we want to. We must look at life through the eyes of faith and proclaim the Word and victory over our lives. We can have joy, everyday joy - no matter what!

I am reminded that life is truly like this roll of Lifesavers. There are many different colors and flavors in our lives and we must take the good with the bad. But our attitudes in the tough times can determine how quickly we will get through it. We must stay in peace and keep our joy in the tough times. The joy of the Lord is our strength.

God reminds us that no matter how many green Lifesavers you have to choke down, the bright, red, cherry ones are coming. We will always get to those those good moments, those happy times. Peel the paper back and let God reveal the blessings. The good is coming.

We live in this world and in this world we will have trouble, but God has not left us. He's preparing the way. He's still on the throne and His arm has not been shortened. He's saying, "Hold on. Trust me. The red Lifesaver is next!"

If we never experience disappointment, how would we fully appreciate our blessings?

Have a blessed day! May it be filled with cherry Lifesavers!

God will perfect that which concerns me.

The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not abandon the works of your hands. (Psalm 138:8)