I tell folks all of the time that everything we face in life is always one or two things. It is either a test or a lesson. If we look at circumstances as that then we'll always fare better in how we handle them. Today my wife calls because the Dentist at the office was able to get me in. I have a tooth that has been going bad for several years but being a man and all... one who doesn't particularly care for Dentist... I put it off because it wasn't hurting. One day, right before the holidays, that changed. After the X-ray and the determination that there was an infection I was given antibiotics and told that the tooth was going to have to come out soon. A slow day at the Dentist office... today they determined would be a good day. Mind you, I had no knowledge of this but since I was there... couldn't say no.
I didn't see a test in any of this so I began to look for the lesson since I'd hate for this tooth to just go in vain... it's been with me now for a long time! I even put a few things on Twitter about this experience... are we like a toothache to God? But then that was just a tweet that had to be under 140 characters. Even after a few more... I thought I need to see a deeper lesson here. Using myself as an example... what a perfect lesson because I get to dog myself out as opposed to it seeming like I am always picking on others!
Since I was a boy... I spent much of my life injured or with the classic things like tonsillitis and the like. I had a bike wreck very early (hit a tree) and had a hernia that had to be fixed thus requiring very heavy antibiotics. I had tonsillitis so bad that I spent two weeks in the hospital and they used really heavy doses of antibiotics. It was years later that I learn that this was really bad on the teeth although it was necessary then for the health. I always had strong teeth and used them often. There was never a knot so tight that I couldn't get apart... often used my teeth. I'd go fishing and like a bone-head.. it was much easier to bite down on a sinker than it was to dig out the pliers. I brushed them like kids do... brush brush and I'm done! Unfortunately my parents didn't stand around to make sure I did a good job... I probably never did. We rarely had insurance as I was a preacher's kid back in the day when preachers didn't make a lot of money and few had actual insurance packages. Going to the dentist regularly... didn't even know you were supposed to. Then came age.
I happened to marry a dental hygienist who constantly reminded me about caring for my teeth. I did get better but I had a lifetime of horrible habits. I could have broken those habits had I worked at it but my attempts were half-hearted at best. Perhaps that attempt got me an extra bit of time with this tooth but still... without changing those habits the teeth are doomed. I go to the dentist now because there's pain associated with the messed up tooth. When it was first noticed, I could have went to the dentist and had this fixed and probably still have the tooth. All it took was looking in the mirror and reacting rightly to what I saw. Instead... I'll get it fixed later. Every day became nothing more than a day later until it was to late to fix the tooth. All that was left now... sure the dentist could still fix it but the price changed. Now the tooth is gone. Pulled out and discarded as waste... no longer good for anything.
I could go into many variations of the spiritual lessons involved in this for my end and will one day. What would be cool is if you guys would share how this would apply to you and your life. I'm sure that all of us can learn something from my experience at the dentist office. Better to learn at my expense than having to pay a price your own at a later day! Use the comment box to share if you are of a mind to.
Be blessed and keep on praising Jesus!
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