Don’t Toss the Nutty Buddy Bars

While visiting my oldest daughter in Nashville this weekend, we saw a man holding a cardboard sign that simply said, Anything Helps.
We watched as the car in front of us rolled down their window.
To our surprise, they handed him a box of Nutty Buddy Bars.

As soon as I saw that iconic snack, I was transported straight back to 8th grade when I thought they counted as a balanced meal. My addiction to those peanut butter layers is second only to Oreos.

But the man holding the sign?
At first, when he saw that car window rolling down, his eyes lit up.
You could practically feel his expectations rising.
This is it, he must’ve thought. Finally, a twenty, maybe even a fifty.

Then…out came the yellow box.
The disappointment was immediate.
He looked at it like he had just been handed a pamphlet for a timeshare.
And with all the enthusiasm of a kid receiving a health food brochure on Halloween, he tossed them to the side of the road.

I get it, though.
He wasn’t looking for snacks.
He needed something that could change his situation, even if just a little.

And as we drove away, I couldn’t shake the image of the box lying on the roadside.
How often, I wondered, does God hand us something good that could genuinely help us, only for us to push it aside because it doesn’t look like the answer we expected?

We all have our own Nutty Buddy moments, don’t we?
There are times when we pray for one outcome, and instead, God rolls down the window and hands us something else.

Maybe it’s that unexpected job loss you never saw coming. You prayed for clarity, but instead, you got a wake-up call. That loss pushed you to pursue a passion you didn’t know was waiting for you.

Think about the end of a long-term relationship.
You hoped for forever, but what you received was heartbreak.
That painful experience opened your heart to possibilities you didn’t know existed.

And what about those financial struggles?
You wanted security, but instead, you faced uncertainty.
That forced you to reassess your priorities, revealing a resourcefulness you never knew you had.

The truth is that God’s imagination and vision for our lives are far greater than our own.
He sees the big picture.
So sometimes, instead of what we think we need, He gives us what will grow, steady, or strengthen us for what’s to come.
And yes, it may come in the form of a Nutty Buddy Bar, but that doesn’t make it any less valuable.

So, what’s YOUR Nutty Buddy?
What gift in your life have you been quick to dismiss because it didn’t look like the answer you’d hoped for?

Trust that while it may not look like the solution you pictured, it could very well be exactly what you need.
God’s most profound gifts often come wrapped in the most unexpected packaging.