Last Wednesday morning I spent two hours in the dentist chair getting some major work done on a couple teeth that had been quietly decaying in the back of my mouth. Ironically, God has been using this dental analogy to bring some things in my own life to light, and I thought I'd share them here. It all started about a month ago when I went in for my check up...new dentist, new x-rays, and a new diagnosis! For unknown reasons and circumstances beyond my control (bummer) I have several teeth in the back of my mouth that are decaying from the inside out for no apparent reason. I'm one of those fanatical brushers and flossers so it's NOT from lack of hygiene. The dentist was and is perplexed, and has ever so graciously 'offered' to try and stop my dental demise...
So, last week was my first of several very long appointments with needles, drills, tugging, digging, and 'fixing'. You're catching on, aren't you? After half an hour of drilling, the dentist told me to stick my tongue back where he'd been drilling and feel the hole left in my tooth. Initially there was NO WAY I was going to do that for fear of making myself sick. But I'm slowly realizing that simply ignoring something or denying it's true existence does NOT in fact make it any less real. So, I slowly slid my tongue back and felt the deep crevice in my back molar and the hole in the side of the tooth as well. My mind was swirling with how and why this could have happened as well as sheer dread of the thought that I have to do this at least twice more on different teeth...UGH!
But God has been using this scenario all week to prepare me for what He's asking me to do...dig and drill. You see, there are some things in my life that I've hidden deep in the back molar crevices of my life...some things I didn't even realize were there. They have started to cause decay from the inside out in areas of my life...and God wants to dig...drill....chizzle...whatever it takes to help me get that 'yuck' out of my life. Then He wants me to feel the deep holes left behind...not pretend they don't exist or aren't real, but to acknowledge them-feel them-know that they are real. And finally, He's going to fill those holes...fill them with His love in ways I've never let in before; fill them with the forgiveness I need for myself and for others; fill them with His grace that I've talked about and known about but haven't truly experienced in these dark areas of my life...
It's not comfortable, and as much as I'd like to use some numbing agents to take the edge off I know that He won't give me anymore than I can handle. I'm glad that I serve a Father who seeks me...who wants more for me than I want for myself...and who is willing to help me dig deep into areas He says I'm ready to handle...and who promises to be there every step of the way and to re-fill that decay in my life with Himself...
Monday, June 1, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Monday, June 1, 2009
Dentists, drills...and a deep hole
Last Wednesday morning I spent two hours in the dentist chair getting some major work done on a couple teeth that had been quietly decaying in the back of my mouth. Ironically, God has been using this dental analogy to bring some things in my own life to light, and I thought I'd share them here. It all started about a month ago when I went in for my check up...new dentist, new x-rays, and a new diagnosis! For unknown reasons and circumstances beyond my control (bummer) I have several teeth in the back of my mouth that are decaying from the inside out for no apparent reason. I'm one of those fanatical brushers and flossers so it's NOT from lack of hygiene. The dentist was and is perplexed, and has ever so graciously 'offered' to try and stop my dental demise...
So, last week was my first of several very long appointments with needles, drills, tugging, digging, and 'fixing'. You're catching on, aren't you? After half an hour of drilling, the dentist told me to stick my tongue back where he'd been drilling and feel the hole left in my tooth. Initially there was NO WAY I was going to do that for fear of making myself sick. But I'm slowly realizing that simply ignoring something or denying it's true existence does NOT in fact make it any less real. So, I slowly slid my tongue back and felt the deep crevice in my back molar and the hole in the side of the tooth as well. My mind was swirling with how and why this could have happened as well as sheer dread of the thought that I have to do this at least twice more on different teeth...UGH!
But God has been using this scenario all week to prepare me for what He's asking me to do...dig and drill. You see, there are some things in my life that I've hidden deep in the back molar crevices of my life...some things I didn't even realize were there. They have started to cause decay from the inside out in areas of my life...and God wants to dig...drill....chizzle...whatever it takes to help me get that 'yuck' out of my life. Then He wants me to feel the deep holes left behind...not pretend they don't exist or aren't real, but to acknowledge them-feel them-know that they are real. And finally, He's going to fill those holes...fill them with His love in ways I've never let in before; fill them with the forgiveness I need for myself and for others; fill them with His grace that I've talked about and known about but haven't truly experienced in these dark areas of my life...
It's not comfortable, and as much as I'd like to use some numbing agents to take the edge off I know that He won't give me anymore than I can handle. I'm glad that I serve a Father who seeks me...who wants more for me than I want for myself...and who is willing to help me dig deep into areas He says I'm ready to handle...and who promises to be there every step of the way and to re-fill that decay in my life with Himself...
So, last week was my first of several very long appointments with needles, drills, tugging, digging, and 'fixing'. You're catching on, aren't you? After half an hour of drilling, the dentist told me to stick my tongue back where he'd been drilling and feel the hole left in my tooth. Initially there was NO WAY I was going to do that for fear of making myself sick. But I'm slowly realizing that simply ignoring something or denying it's true existence does NOT in fact make it any less real. So, I slowly slid my tongue back and felt the deep crevice in my back molar and the hole in the side of the tooth as well. My mind was swirling with how and why this could have happened as well as sheer dread of the thought that I have to do this at least twice more on different teeth...UGH!
But God has been using this scenario all week to prepare me for what He's asking me to do...dig and drill. You see, there are some things in my life that I've hidden deep in the back molar crevices of my life...some things I didn't even realize were there. They have started to cause decay from the inside out in areas of my life...and God wants to dig...drill....chizzle...whatever it takes to help me get that 'yuck' out of my life. Then He wants me to feel the deep holes left behind...not pretend they don't exist or aren't real, but to acknowledge them-feel them-know that they are real. And finally, He's going to fill those holes...fill them with His love in ways I've never let in before; fill them with the forgiveness I need for myself and for others; fill them with His grace that I've talked about and known about but haven't truly experienced in these dark areas of my life...
It's not comfortable, and as much as I'd like to use some numbing agents to take the edge off I know that He won't give me anymore than I can handle. I'm glad that I serve a Father who seeks me...who wants more for me than I want for myself...and who is willing to help me dig deep into areas He says I'm ready to handle...and who promises to be there every step of the way and to re-fill that decay in my life with Himself...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment