I had to go to the dentist yesterday. I didn’t like it. I never really like visiting that particular place. Now don’t get me wrong, I appreciate dentists and the work that they do, but boy, I do not like having someone poking around in my mouth.
I know a ton of people don’t, and it doesn’t take too much imagining to fathom why:
Lying back, vulnerable, with masked figures looming over you. Bright lights, sterile, practically blinding you. Stretching your mouth open, for at least a half hour, while you’re being pok
ed and prodded and scraped and you can’t see what’s happening inside but you know it's uncomfortable.
Told you I don’t like the dentist. Thankfully, I don’t have an anxiety attack or anything, but I do feel extremely tense—on edge— the whole time.
Too much is going on but I don’t know what’s going on and I really don’t like when those six-month check-ups come around.
But you know what I realized?
Going to the dentist is kind of like our relationship with Christ.
(Weird, I know… but hear me out.)
Look at the ending of Psalm 139:
“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (23-24).
I don’t necessarily jump for joy when I read these words. I don’t want to be searched and tested and cleaned.
Because it hurts… a lot, at times. But friends, we need our Healer to heal us.
And sometimes, He has to scrape away the plaque and use this weird water flosser thing that sprays you in the face every ten seconds. He has to g
o deep, inside the places we cannot see, in order to prevent our future pains and provide for our current ones.
He may even have to drill and fill a cavity too; after all, the rot could hinder your walk in the everlasting way. In His Way.
When I think about it that way, I'm grateful for the pain and discomfort, for the mending and healing that is being produced.
But I still don’t like going to the dentist. It creeps me out, always has. However, maybe if I compare my dental work to the heart work that God is doing in me, I won’t get so freaked out.
Maybe the same could work for you... because we need clean teeth just like we need clean hearts :)
We have a Great Physician, friends—let’s not be afraid of His healing work.
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