Are you wondering if you read that right? Yes, I mean fillings, not feelings. Yesterday, I went to the much dreaded dentist. Nothing against dentists as a whole but I've had bad experiences and so I had put off dental treatment for 9 years. Yes, 9 years, shameful I know, I can't even believe I'm admitting that to the whole (internet) world! And so I was in desperate need of fillings. I got two of the four I need yesterday. It was painful, if you have never had them done before let me walk you through it for a moment. First they tell you where the decay is and schedule the appointment. The day of the appointment you sit down and endure shots in the jaw to numb the area. Next, they drill and scrap out all of the decay. After all this is done, they fill the empty spaces with a filling. So I had this done yesterday, after a few hours of walking around with a half numb face (go ahead and picture it, it was a hoot!), I finally started to get feeling back and boy was my jaw sore. I could only open my mouth a few inches and every time would I bite down I could feel where the filling wasn't quite like how my tooth used to be. This morning, I can still feel the fillings are different from my old teeth and my jaw isn't quite as sore but its better and I know its healthier even if I couldn't physically see the decay before.
So you're probably wondering what my point is. As I laid in bed last night, God reminded me of a few times I had decay in my life. I might not have been over aware of it and most people probably didn't even know it was there but God knew. And God called me out on it, He told me where that decay was and that it needed to be removed. God knew that it would eventually cause me a great deal of pain and problems, just as the dentist knew my cavities would. Thankfully though God went to work in drilling and scraping out the decay I had in my life. It wasn't all over my life just in 'one or two teeth'. But if I had let it go and not let God handle it, it would have quickly spread and caused ruin in my life. What is so wonderful is that God didn't just leave the hole in my life, much like the dentist filled my teeth, God fills our lives when He was done the work of removing the decay. It isn't without its pain and it will most certainly feel different from the way our lives were before but its better and healthier. Praise God!
Let me leave you with a few scripture references to mediate on today.
If you're 'cavity' hasn't been removed yet and you are wondering if God even cares, I beg you to cry out to Him.
~"And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's own will." Romans 8:26-27
And if you think, "But you don't know what I've done", do us both a favor and keeping reading the rest of Romans chapter 8.
If you're in the midst of having that decay filled, don't lose heart! God is love, He won't give up on you, so don't give up on the work he is doing in your life.
~"Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." 1 Cor. 13:7
And if you've had that filling, let God use you. There are others that are still stuck in their decay, afraid to 'go to the dentist'.
~"This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to Him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, no longer counting people's sins against them. And He gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ's ambassadors; God is making His appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, "Come back to God!" 2 Cor. 5:17-20
