Sticky Camel Situation

I was picking up sticks at work yesterday. Not the game. Tree prunings. I was thinking about sticks, and in particular, how many sticks could you put on a camel's back. You have probably heard the old saying "It is the final stick that breaks the camel’s back". There was nothing special about that particular stick, it was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. In fact, it was the cumulative effect of all the other ones added together that did the damage. The camel may have been collecting sticks on it's back for a while (mental picture of camel picking up sticks), and finally it's resolve comes to an end.

Sometimes in life there will be a person or event etc that causes us to get angry etc and we can easily blame that person but in reality it was our unwise decisions leading up to that event that really did the damage.

Maybe your husband or wife or sibling or best friend has upset you or made you angry, so you blame them, but in reality, the last few nights you have stayed up too late, or maybe you have been eating poorly and not exercising regularly and that has made you less able to deal with stress. My advice would be to look at your life instead and see if you have been making unwise lifestyle decisions etc instead of just blaming the person or event that has triggered your emotional event.

Maybe you have unhealthy thought patterns that cause you to "pick up sticks" when you see them lying around. You don't actually have to pick up these sticks. You aren't the boss of the world!. You can let someone else, God, carry those burdens. It makes life vastly more enjoyable if you can leave the sticks to God. If you do pick one up, because let's face it, we all naturally want to, just remember to pass it on as quick as you can, otherwise you will accumulate stuff in your life that you just don't need to have. Stress in our lives often occurs because we try to carry too much.

Lots of things happen in life that are unfair, unjust, just plain wrong! We cannot, and should not, try to right every one. Every time we take up a cause, no matter how right you are, stress is added to our lives. A camel cannot fight on every single hill, it must choose it's battles, it must not pick up a stick every time it sees one. God is our Vindicator, and all we have to do is tell him what we have seen and then TRUST HIM to deal with it. Stop trying to wrestle it back of Him. Just leave it!

Jesus was completely right in everything he did, and he still remained silent before his accusers. Because he knew that his Father would take care of it. We should be the same. Just chill out, stop defending yourself and move on.

So next time you are feeling tired or annoyed or whatever, don't blame that person or situation that seems to have caused it. They were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It may have been all of the other things you have been trying to carry that have caused the real problems. Jesus is waiting to carry your load if you want to GIVE IT to him, he won't steal it! The only responsiblity you have in this situation is to choose to GIVE it to Him. It's better to give than receive;)