The Burden Trap

I took my troubles to the Lord;
    I cried out to him, and he answered my prayer.

Psalm 120:1 

 

I learn a lot from watching  Animal Planet and the other educational channels.  One of the things I learned was the method used by some tribes in the Amazon to capture monkeys.  They take a gourd and make a hole in one end just big enough for a monkey to get his hand in, and then they put berries and nuts in the gourd.  The monkey wants the goodies inside the gourd and reaches in to get them, only to discover that when he grips the goodies, his fist is too big to pull out.  

 

Now, in our minds, we think "Why doesn't the monkey just let go of the goodies and pull his hand out?".  Good question!  However, since we aren't monkeys....   

 

In all reality, we are like the monkey in our refusal to let go so we can be rescued.  Let me ask you, how many grudges are getting carried when it would be so much less stressful to let them go?  How many hurts do we keep instead of letting them go so they can heal?  How many situations that we have no control over do we still gripe about?

 

Whatever burden we carry, Jesus understands and is willing to carry our burdens to God's heart....if we are willing to: Let....them....go!

When You Walk Through A Cattle Pasture...

So submit to God. But resist the devil and he will flee from you. 

James 4:7 

The question was asked of me, "If I have forgiven someone who has hurt me, but when I come in contact with them, I get angry and upset all over again, does that mean I haven't truly forgiven them?"  Forgiveness is not forgiveness unless it costs you!  End of story!  Forgiveness will cost you the "right" of revenge.  Forgiveness will cost you the "right" to slap on a happy mask and pretend everything is okay.  You see, forgiving someone does not mean the scars are gone.  And if someone has hurt you, then forgiveness might even cost you a relationship with that person.

One thing to consider, Forgiveness does not remove the temptation to let our humanity show.  Take for example if I get a bottle of water, and that water is scalding hot, the wise thing for me to do is not touch that bottle until I can handle the heat.  The same applies when others hurt us.  We can forgive them, but the wise thing to do is to not be in proximity of the person who hurt us until we are completely able to handle their company without being fake.  Why? Because once you have forgiven someone who has hurt you, you don't want to be tempted to be hurt by them again or to become angry with them again.  You should distance yourself from them until that hurt within you has healed completely.

If you are familiar with cows, they are quite prolific in the manufacture of manure and aren't too particular where they leave this gift.  I don't know about you, but I've never seen anyone who works with cows walking through a pasture without shoes, boots, waders, or some covering.  Why? Because once you've stepped in it, you learn it's not something you want to step into again.

Think of it this way, if you know that where the traps are, wouldn't it be wiser to walk around them rather than step into them.  We are told to resist temptation.  When Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount, His approach was to remind us that the temptation to do wrong begins in the heart.

Therefore, if you want to avoid the temptation, sometimes you have to separate yourself from the place where your temptation lurks.  The enemy knows where you struggle and sets traps for you, avoid them!