Don't let a "Monkey" interrupt your peace

Peace, overflowing peace.

I'll be honest when I say that's what I pray for every day and night and it seems that I've finally achieved it. It feels really good, but is that okay? Is it legal for things to be so perfect?

My family life is blessed. My career is great and the love life is exactly what I need it to be at the moment.

I feel so good most of the time I think I'm doing something wrong. Then I come back to my senses and realize that I must be finally doing something right. After all, there are no "monkeys" around to screw anything up.

Everyone knows what a monkey is. The dictionary defines a monkey as 1. any mammal of the order Primates, including the guenons, macaques, langurs, and capuchins, but excluding humans, the anthropoid apes, and, usually, the tarsier and prosimians.

So basically they are little furry animals that climb in trees and like to scream, OOH-OOH-EEE-EEE!!!

My personal definition of a monkey is any noun (person, place, thing or sin) that royally messes up whatever good thing you've got going on.

I classify the following examples as "monkeys":

If you have a good job but there's one particular person who is singlehandedly making it more difficult than it should be, then that person is a monkey.

If things are going well in your family and there is just one particular person who always causes drama, then that person is a monkey.

But monkeys aren't just people. They can be habits too. If you have pretty good finances, and yet you battle with a gambling habit. that keeps you from putting away the good money that you earn, then that gambling habit is a monkey.

Of course I'm sure many of you have heard the example of the man with the porn addiction. He looks at porn all the time at home and his wife finally catches him one day. He doesn't want to upset his wife so he looks at porn at work. He gets caught at work and is promptly fired. The man's porn addiction is a "monkey".

Monkeys usually turn out to be blessing blockers as well. Blessing blockers are anything that hinders us from receiving God's total blessings in our lives. They can include, what we do, what we say, the way that we think, and who we associate with. As long as that "monkey" is around, you won't be as blessed as you could possibly be.

If you have any of these in your life, then don't feel bad. Every key person in the Bible suffered from Monkey Infestation at one point or another. There are countless examples, but today I'm going to focus on the Israelites.

In the time of the Old Testament, the Israelites were God's Chosen People and they were slaves to the Egyptians. God freed the Israelites from the Egyptians' bondage and sought to bring them into a land all their own deemed "The Promised Land."

God brought the Israelites out by performing many signs and wonders. He parted the Red Sea so that the Israelites could escape Pharoah's army. He used large pillars of fire to protect them and to guide their path at night. He also provided them with manna (bread from heaven) and later provided them with quails to eat when they complained.

After all of these miracles, there were still many people among the Israelites who chose not to believe God and to criticize him. The journey to The Promised Land was only supposed to take 11 days, but because of the "monkeys'" behavior, God decided not to bring the Israelites to the Promised Land right away. Instead he made them wander around the same mountain for 40 years, until every single person who stood against him had died. God was determined to make sure the blessing was not received until all those who would pervert it were gone. The people who were loyal to God were virtually unscathed by the long journey, however everyone else died and their bodies were left in the desert.

Probably the most disturbing aspect of this story is that God had intended to do nothing but bless the Israelites. They originally were not to suffer any hardships, famine, or war. Like a leaf floating down a calm, serene stream, the Israelites journey was to be an easy trip to paradise. But because of the people the Israelites were associated with, the 11 day trip to "Heaven on Earth" quickly became a long hard road out of Hell.

This may be a different time, but the same biblical rules still apply to us today. God will not bring about the greatest blessings in your life until you get rid of all blessing blockers in the way. You may travel the same path for days, months, or even years only to find out later that a "monkey" was holding you back.

Are you prepared to wait for 40 years for something that you could have tomorrow? I'm not...I don't think I have that type of patience.

All the Best,

Tal Smith

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(Evil Monkey image - property of "Family Guy")