{"id":3231,"date":"2023-05-22T03:54:21","date_gmt":"2023-05-22T11:54:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/breathingspace\/?p=3231"},"modified":"2023-05-13T08:26:47","modified_gmt":"2023-05-13T16:26:47","slug":"why-do-christians-act-like-monkeys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/breathingspace\/2023\/05\/why-do-christians-act-like-monkeys\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Do Christians Act Like Monkeys?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Everywhere you go, you find Christians who act like monkeys, insisting on their own way and mistrusting divine supply of their needs. Why do Christians act like monkeys?<\/p>\n

<\/a>

Image by Pavan Prasad<\/a> from Pixabay<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Three in the Morning<\/strong><\/h2>\n There\u2019s an old Taoist<\/a><\/span> story about a monkey trainer who gave his monkeys seven nuts as a treat every day.<\/strong>\u00a0 He gave them three in the morning and four at night.\u00a0 The monkeys got very upset, saying that it wasn\u2019t fair.\u00a0 So, the trainer changed his approach.\u00a0 Instead, he gave them four in the morning and three at night.\u00a0 This made the monkeys very happy, even though either way they still got seven.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Irrational Reasons<\/strong><\/h2>\n In The Way of Chuang Tzu<\/a><\/em><\/span>, Thomas Merton discusses the keeper\u2019s perspective. <\/strong>He says it was important to understand that his pets had \u201cirrational reasons of their own for wanting four in the morning and three in the evening. The keeper did not stubbornly insist on his original arrangement. He did not waste time trying to convince the monkeys to be more reasonable about it.\u201d <\/em>Merton<\/a> <\/span>reminds his readers not to insist on everyone else being reasonable. That\u2019s when we become unreasonable ourselves, he warns.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Why Do Christians Act Like Monkeys?<\/strong><\/h2>\n We can also act a lot like those monkeys.<\/strong>\u00a0 Why do we do this? We become discontented with the way Heaven supplies our needs, thinking it is somehow unfair.\u00a0 Yet divine providence does not discriminate.\u00a0 As the number seven represents perfection, we are reminded of how God perfectly provides for us.\u00a0 But sometimes all we see is three plus four, without doing the math and adding it up to perfect provision.\u00a0 We wonder why there seems to be an imbalance between what we get in the morning and in the evening, distrusting the wisdom of our Provider. In Philippians\u00a04:11b-13; 19<\/a><\/span>, the apostle Paul writes:<\/p>\n " \u00a0\u201cI have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me\u2026.\u00a0And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Like monkeys, we forget that all of our needs will be supplied\u2013in just the right amount and just the right time. We simply need to learn to trust this. When we can learn to abound in every situation, we will have learned the secret to contentment.<\/p>\n <\/h2>\nThe Secret of Contentment<\/strong><\/h2>\n*********** ** Not many of us know the secret of contentment.<\/strong>\u00a0 We think we\u2019ll find it in the accumulation of more possessions. Or even less-substantial gains like honor and glory.\u00a0 But whether we\u2019re talking about material or non-material things, we must trust that God knows just how much we need and will give us the perfect amount.\u00a0 Do you feel deprived of attention?\u00a0 Understand that God will give you what you need.\u00a0 Do you feel like you don\u2019t have enough admiration or affection?\u00a0 Trust that God will supply what you need the most, at the time that you need it.\u00a0 Trust the perfection of Providence. When you find the secret of contentment, you begin to doubt your own discontented perspective of 3+4.<\/p>\n ** ***********\u00a0<\/p>\n**** Enough Fish for Today<\/strong><\/h2>\n Recently, I read a story from \u201cOur Daily Bread\u201d<\/a><\/span> that illustrates our confusion about contentment:<\/strong><\/p>\n " \u00a0Philip Parham tells the story of a rich industrialist who was disturbed to find a fisherman sitting lazily beside his boat. \u201cWhy aren\u2019t you out there fishing?\u201d he asked.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cBecause I\u2019ve caught enough fish for today,\u201d said the fisherman.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWhy don\u2019t you catch more fish than you need?\u2019 the rich man asked.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWhat would I do with them?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cYou could earn more money,\u201d came the impatient reply, \u201cand buy a better boat so you could go deeper and catch more fish. You could purchase nylon nets, catch even more fish, and make more money. Soon you\u2019d have a fleet of boats and be rich like me.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n The fisherman asked, \u201cThen what would I do?\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cYou could sit down and enjoy life,\u201d said the industrialist.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWhat do you think I\u2019m doing now?\u201d the fisherman replied as he looked placidly out to sea.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Just as the fisherman understood that he had all that he needed, we need to trust that our God will meet our needs.<\/strong>\u00a0 I pray that God will fill your heart with contentment so that you know when you have enough.\u00a0 I pray that, whether you have three in the morning and four at night, or the other way around, you\u2019ll realize that the amount God provides for you is perfect.\u00a0 Because when Christians stop acting like monkeys, our hearts will finally be at peace.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Everywhere you go, you find Christians who act like monkeys, insisting on their own way and mistrusting divine supply of their needs. Why do Christians act like monkeys? Three in the Morning There\u2019s an old Taoist story about a monkey trainer who gave his monkeys seven nuts as a treat every day.\u00a0 He gave them […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4628,"featured_media":3234,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2310,286,2313,2307],"class_list":["post-3231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spirituality","tag-chuang-tzu","tag-taoism-and-christianity","tag-the-secret-of-contentment","tag-thomas-merton"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy do Christians Act Like Monkeys?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Everywhere you go, you find Christians who act like monkeys, insisting on their own way and mistrusting divine supply of their needs. 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