Unfulfilled Trappings

Sometimes I find myself trapped. Captured by things I can't seem to let go of. I clutch onto empty promises that never fulfill. How about you?
 

For me it starts out with good intentions, wanting to do all things with excellence, a desire to serve, minister, and honor God. Then, somewhere along the journey, fear creeps in. What if this doesn't work? What if no one is touched? What if I fail? My passion for God is captured by old pattern of control. Self-reliance and tendencies of wanting to achieve and accomplish entice my pride--REALLY? DO I STILL THINK THAT I HAVE ANY POWER OTHER THAN WHAT GOD GRANTS ME??? Ideas of what I think should or shouldn't be begin to monopolize my thoughts. Maybe if I do....then this will be the result... And WHAM...I'm trapped. I've bit into the forbidden apple of ownership instead of stewardship...As I reflected on my spiritual condition and surrendered to God (once again) this morning, the Holy Spirit reminded me of a sermon illustration I heard a few years back.

In WWII monkey meat was considered a delicacy in the South Pacific. Local islanders showed American soldiers how to capture monkeys. The process was pretty simple. "1. Put an apple in a wide-mouth jar. 2. Tie a rope around the jar. 3. Tie the other end of the rope around a tree. 4. Wait patiently. Eventually a monkey will come along, look curiously in the jar, see the apple, reach in and grab it. The monkey’s hand easily compressed to fit into the jar but his fist, holding the apple, was too large to pull out. The monkey, however, would predictably refuse to let go of the apple." http://ccdumaguete.com/new/tag/freedom-from-sin-through-christ/)

How about you? Is your hand stuck in the apple jar? Are you clutching to something that God wants you to let go of?

Friend, John 10:10 reminds "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." (NIV)

We all have our struggles. Some entangle their lives in sex. Others addict to unfruitful escapes through alcohol. Still others, like me, get trapped by control and self-reliance...

Our only hope is to let go...To recognize our hand is (once again) clutching onto the apple of unfulfilled trappings...

Paul writes it this way in Roman 7:21-25, "So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God — through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (NIV)

If you find yourself trapped today, I encourage you to join me:

1. Surrender and let go. The only way we can truly let go...is to press in to God. James 4:7-8 says, "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you." (NIV)
2. Remember to ask for help. Psalm 46:1 says, "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble." (NIV)
3. Ask for forgiveness to be set free. 1 John 1:9-10 says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (NIV)
4. Ask for God's wisdom. Proverbs 3:5-6 reminds to "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." (NIV)
5. MOST OF ALL remember God is near; HE is for us! And if God is for us...Who can stand against us? Nothing can separate us from His love.

PRAYER: Father, help us to release all the things that attempt to trap us! Help us to let go and run to YOU in EVERY area of life!