Tag Archives: monkey

Let go – let God

 

 

A comedian once observed that “home is where you keep your stuff while you go and buy more stuff.” It’s a plague that affects not just the rich and famous; we all have too much stuff. Stuff crowds our lives and causes us to ask if we possess things or if they possess us.

 

Have you ever gone through your belongings and asked yourself, “Why have I held on to this for so long?”  Sometimes, we are reluctant to let go of the stuff that surrounds us. Like the monkey in it’s self-imposed trap, we cling to stuff we want only to find that it is the thing that possesses us. If you’ve ever thought, “I could never bear to part with ‘that'”, you know what I mean.

 

Sometimes it’s not things we cling to but relationships, feelings, and habits that have governed our past. We’re warned to “not let a bitter root grow up to cause trouble.” (Hebrews 12:15) But sometimes we cling to that bitterness, resentment, fear or other crippling emotion. Sometimes when things go wrong in our life, we clench our fists, desperately trying to hold onto things and control them. . . sometimes even things that hurt us and prevent us from experiencing peace and joy.

 

When you find your fists clenched (really or figuratively) it’s a good time to open your hands before God. We can only hold onto so much at one time. Let go of that which keeps you from experiencing God’s best for you. Let God replace it with His peace and contented joy.

 

An exercise you might find helpful when you pray is to hold your hands before you, palms down as you confess anything you are grasping that you need to let go in order to hold onto God’s peace.   Turn your hands palms up and feel your hands relax as you release your belongings and relationships and let God fill you with the grace and joy He freely offers you.

 

The position of our hands often determines the nature of our heart. Clenched hands seldom hold things of value. Open hands release that which is not really ours and frees us to receive all that God desires to put in them. Open hands are also free to hold onto God’s own hand as He seeks to reach out to us and lead us.

 

“I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, “Do not fear. I will help you.” Isaiah 41:13