I love the movie Forrest Gump. It has some parts I believe they could have left out, but for the most part I really enjoy it. Of course, the movie is a fun way of retelling modern history. They did an amazing job of integrating sixty years of America’s past into a two-hour film. Not only do they weave historical fact seamlessly into the story, but I think you get a sense of what people on all sides of the events were feeling about what was happening.

The other reason I love this movie is the character of Forrest himself. The actor Tom Hanks does an amazing job playing a simple man; not the smartest, not the most handsome, not the strongest guy though he can run, not born to wealth or even to a perfect family. There is nothing you can point to and say, “That it is why his life went the way it did.” Most of the time, he is rather confused by everything going on around him. His mother explains this fairly well when she says, “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get.” Yet despite all of his personal confusion, life just seems to work out for him. I’m not saying everything goes his way, but on the whole things work themselves out.

Isn’t that how we think life ought to go? Most of the time I must admit I am confused. I try to have a plan; every once in a while I’m able to follow it. I think I’m headed the right way, but many times I just don’t get what is going on. I get upset when everything doesn’t work itself out.

I know the Bible tells me that God works all things together for my good, but it doesn’t always feel that way. Sometimes it feels as if every effort I put forward gets slapped down. Perhaps I expect too much when I ask everything to go my way. Perhaps I need to approach these moments with a different perspective.