Catching Monkeys

Source

It is said that the way to catch a monkey is to take a coconut, cut a hole in it and place a pebble inside the coconut.  The monkey will see the coconut, place his hand in the coconut and grab the pebble. But then the monkey can not leave because he now has to figure out what's important - the pebble or the coconut. And so in his distraction he becomes easy bait to be caught. (I don't know how true this is, as I've never ventured to catch monkeys, but the premise makes for worthwhile discussion.)

Sometimes, we are like those monkeys. We hold on to things that we think are important and forget the bigger picture. We get sucked in by wanting things and then those things take a hold of us. Things like: placing a premium on getting a dream job; sending our children to the best schools; buying a car or a house; or a relationship.

When we finally get these things we hold on to them so tightly, and before we know it, we are not enjoying life. We're also in a position to be distracted and to be caught. At this point, we hear and interpret things differently. For example what used to be, "education is important and we will do our best to ensure our kids receive the best with what we have to offer." now becomes, "education is the most important thing and nothing matters but sending my child to an ivy league school."  What used to be, "this job is the next step in my career because I really enjoy what I do," now becomes, "I'm here and I don't care what I have to do or who I have to hurt to keep this job." Our thinking becomes warped the longer we hold on to the pebble. The coconut has more value than the pebble. The coconut can be used to sustain us and help others. The coconut wasn't meant to trap you but the bait inside the coconut was, and so many of us take the bait.

How about we open our hands and let the pebble go; just let it go because it's not as important as you think it is and if you really want a pebble you can get it outside of the coconut. When you put things in their proper perspective, a pebble is just a pebble.

Monkeys like humans are smart, but sometimes we do things that are to our own detriment. We focus on things we want that are so little and inconsequential instead of focusing on bigger things.  For me the bigger things are always about increasing my faith by trusting in the One who made all things. When tempted to take the bait, He gives me the wisdom, the insight and the foresight to let go of the pebble. In that moment of letting go I know that I won't be bait for anyone and I won't be a monkey that gets caught. You can still enjoy all that God has for you without it becoming the priority in your life.

19 “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. 21 Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. Matthew 6:19-21 (NLT)

Have you taken the bait? What are you holding on to?

Pity Party

source


Sometimes before you get to being grateful, you throw a pity party. Your pity party may last a moment, a week, a month or a lifetime.

The dominant theme of a pity party is “woe is me, my life is horrid, and I’m the worse person in the world!” How do I know this so well? I’ve thrown a few pity parties in my time and according to my husband, “I throw the worse pity parties!” (Thank God for him). Life throws us curveballs, sometimes you may have a legitimate reason and other times you’re just down on yourself.

Job in the Bible had the ultimate reason to have a pity party: he lost everything he had including his wife and children, he got physically ill, and his friends weren’t really good friends – they thought he did something to deserve all this trouble. Ultimately Job acknowledged God’s sovereignty even in his trials – Job 42: 2-6.
In the end, Job’s latter was greater than his beginning – he had a lot in the beginning and he had even more at the end.

I recently read a book called Miles To Go by Richard Paul Evans which echoes the above theme. The main character loses everything and goes through additional suffering before finally realizing why. I like many quotes from the book, but these two I will leave with you – “For there are moments in all lives, great and small that we must trudge alone our forlorn roads into infinite wilderness to endure our midnight hours of pain and sorrow – the Gethsemane moments when we are on our knees or backs crying out to a universe that seems to have abandoned us. These are the greatest moments, where we show our souls. These are our “finest hours”. That these moments are given to us is neither accidental nor cruel. Without great mountains we cannot reach great heights.”

“I tell my children never forget that man is not a complete being in himself. There’s something greater than he that moves him.”

You are worthy. You may be going through, but so are many others. Turn to God and “Be still” and let Him work out in you what needs to be worked out.

May your pity party end with the clarity that you need so that you can move on.


Are your pity parties enjoyable? Do you wish you never had them? How do you move on from a pity party?

A Godly Smack!

Has God ever smacked you up side the head?
Have you ever been so caught up in your circumstances, that you don't see how He's working and then he gobsmacks you and and you're left humbled?
Well this happened to me with three instances in one day, which I'd like to share with you:

1. I went on an interview last week that I did not approach positively. I practically knew I was not going to be a good fit before I got there. (Kinda makes you wonder why I went). Anyhow, as the interview progresses - they are impressed with me and say "I've set the bar very high!" Let's see how this turns out.

2. A friend of mine recently had a baby girl that was born deaf (I don't remember the specific name of the medical condition). The doctors told them that she would be deaf for life and would need hearing aids and assistance. The whole family had started to learn sign language. She asked me to pray for her and I've prayed since I found out. I got a call mid-morning from the mother, saying that they went to the doctor earlier this week and her deafness has been reversed; she can hear. The doctors were puzzled as to how this could happen based on her initial diagnosis.
I nearly cried in my office, I was so happy.

3. Currently, I'm on a long term full-time assignment. I was told in February that I would have two more months. Since the beginning of April I've been gearing up for my last day, though I have no idea when that is. My boss wanted to speak with me; I anticipated the worse. She proceeds to tell me that she has another assignment that she wishes to give me.

By the third event, all I could say was praise God. Lord, you're teaching me that you are in control of all things - big and small and that I should trust you.

Thank you Lord for the smack up side the head!

Perspective

My day did not get off to a good start because I didn't want to wake up and lingered in bed, woke up late, and I didn't have my quiet time with God this morning. As a substitute, I tried listening to a pastor I like; while he was good this was not the same as spending time for myself. It's like smelling chocolate when you really want to taste it.

On the way in to work, I was listening to Bethany Hamilton's story/testimony. She's the young lady whose arm got bitten off by a shark while surfing - three days later she was surfing again. I didn't know this about her - but she's a serious Christian - she's 20, she's kept her purity, and God's purposes are being worked out in her life.

Perspective - when you're looking at something up close you can't always tell what it is, you have to step back.

With that in mind Bethany holds on to Jer 29:11 - so when you're going through something you can't always tell that God was working, but when you step back - WHOA - you can see the hand of God.

I needed that reminder this morning as I was feeling out of sorts, on my way to another day at a pointless job.

Lord increase my faith and help me to know and hold on to your Word.