Monkeys in a barrel...

I always wondered what the point of it all was. I guess at that age I was either to excited to be playing with them that I never read the instructions... or I didn't know how to read. I would go with the first of the 2... because I am smart, and I could read. I just chose not to. (Thats what we'll go with here) Anyways, I thought about it this morning. I remember always taking the monkeys out, hooking one on the side of the barrel and then setting it on the edge of the table. I would continue hooking the monkeys, linking them together by the arms. I would always try to see how many I could link together before the barrel fell off the side of the table. I remember never getting very far. I did go back and read the real rules today, just because I was curious, and it is an actual game and that is not how you play. Oh well. At that young of an age it worked for me.

So you're probably wondering why I even thought about such a thing as monkeys in a barrel. Maybe because I'm crazy?? Naw. Maybe because I'm weird?? Possibly. Maybe because I'm me and I just think like that?? That's it! No no... nothing like that. I do have a logical reason for my thinking. Yesterday I had made a comment "Today I make one hand free by letting go so that I might have that extra hand to hold on tighter to the Lord." I was thinking about that again this morning. I've been holding on so tightly with one hand to things (people) other than God. I have one hand up at God doing my best to hold tight, but then I have this other thing I'm holding tight... and that thing is holding tight to something, and that holding tight to something and so on and so on. Its like the monkeys in a barrel... I would start with just one. Thats fine. But then I would link another...ok... no problem. But then there would be another and another and another until the first one was so weighed down it would just tip the whole thing over causing the whole thing to fall off the table. I started thinking about it. There is enough room around the barrel to hook each monkey so why do they all have to weigh each other down.

We can all let go of holding on to each other and weighing each other down. Then we'll have the strength to hold on tighter to God and you won't have to worry about the others around you because then they will have both hands free and could be doing the same. You can do it side by side with encouragement... but hand in hand causes the pulling back, bringing down. God is strong to hold all of us at the same time. That's what we have to remind ourselves the next time we start linking all the monkeys to us.

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:26