Monkey Trap! No matter what version of this story you hear, it doesn’t end well for the monkey. The legend goes that either there are too many monkeys or tribes trap them for food. They devise a trap with a small opening in it. A banana is placed inside. The baited trap is set, and the tribe waits. The monkey can easily slip his flat hand inside when it comes for the banana. He can’t remove his clenched fist from the trap when he grabs the banana. He jumps up and down and screams. His cries alert the hunters, who come and kill him. All along, letting go and unclenching his fist would set him free.
This is all of us. At one time or another, we all hold onto something that hurts us, harms us, or is just not good? We tell ourselves that something worse will happen if we let go. We scare ourselves with the “better the devil you know than the devil you don’t.” So we hold onto that banana until it is blackened, bruised, and mushy. Convincing ourselves that this poor excuse for a piece of fruit is somehow still tasty and pleasing. We lie to ourselves. Like the monkey, we jump up and down and scream when things don’t go as we hope or want. All along, we find freedom if we drop the banana.
What are you holding onto so tightly that it is hurting you? Maybe it’s someone you are dating, a spouse, your job. Maybe it’s you. You are a control freak, bent on making everything just so, fixing yourself, your problems, and the world’s too! Good luck with that. That job has been taken since the beginning of time. Yet there you are, jumping up and down, screaming. Whatever you hold onto looked so pleasing at first. You have squeezed the life out of it and yourself. Letting go and finding the real life is far better. Letting go isn’t the worst that can happen. Holding on is. Look around. Holding on isn’t working out really well for you now…
Ouch, right? It hurt when someone said it to me, too. Still does. I’m that Control Freak and a couple of other things, too. There’s no fancy method to follow or anonymous meetings to attend to learn how to drop the banana. There’s a “Good Book” full of truth about what happens when you let go.
“But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.” – 1 Corinthians 2:9
Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. – Proverbs 19:21
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11
The one responsible for everything is God, not you. And his plans for you are to give you hope and a future, more than you can imagine. Your plans are many, yet they are crumbling. His plans will stand. Letting go sounds good right now. It’s scary but good. Yet the grip on the banana is strong. You can’t fix you. God can.
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” – ! Peter 5:6-8
Give God your concerns, your anxieties, your fears, and your problems. Start small. Hand over one thing at a time, the easiest thing first. Pray and ask Him to help you. You can’t do it on your own. Ask others to pray for you. No one stands alone. No one should stand alone. This flies in the face of today’s worldview. Do it anyway. No one is doing well on their own. God is for you, not against you. Drop the banana. Listen for His voice. Follow His plan for hope and a future. Drop the Banana and live.
Promises straight from His word: (Numbers 6:24-27) “The Lord bless you And keep you Make His face shine upon you And be gracious to you The Lord turn His Face toward you And give you peace.”
(Exodus 20:6) “May His favor be upon you And a thousand generations And your family and your children And their children, and their children.”
(Exodus 33:14) “May His presence go before you And behind you, and beside you All around you, and within you He is with you, He is with you.”
(Psalm 55:17) “In the morning, in the evening.” (Psalm 121:8) “In your coming, and your going.” (Psalm 30:5) “In your weeping, and rejoicing.”
IT'S A HARnDen LIFE... 