Ouch!

I had a new experience this morning... a root canal. Not fun. I had a new dentist, a new dental assistant, and the joy of having my mouth held wide open for two hours.

The dentist was good... the assistant was good... root canals - not so good.

Right now the numbing medicine is wearing off. The dentist told me it would hurt when that happens. He is right...It hurts.

I have some pain medicine but I want to wait... I have to drive this afternoon.

I was nervous this morning...but it was not that bad. It just hurts.

Pam will tell you that I do not have a high pain tolerance.She is right. I am a big baby ( thats me saying that... she is too nice to say it.) It is a good thing I was not made to have children. But I am learning that pain is not always bad. It reminds us that our bodies are not perfect. Pain reminds me that I should not take good days for granted. Pain is good because it forces us to face something and work to get better.

I have had a hurting tooth for 4 weeks. It actually had not hurt over the past few days and I was thinking, "Hey, maybe I don't need that root canal." But those close to me who have experience with such things said, "No way." The way to get healthy is to deal with it. If I had cancelled the appointment (which I really thought about doing), it would have started hurting again and I would have had to go on antibiotics for 10 days before I could get the root canal... So it would do little good to push off the inevitable.

Isn't that the way life is? We can ignore the pain, or mask the pain, but if you don't deal with it, it will always be there. Sure, there are days that it seems better. There are days that you go along and there is little if any pain in that relationship you have at work, at home, at church, even with God. But if you are going to see the pain go away for good, you have to open it up, clean out the infection and deal with it.

Certainly that is true of relationships. When we are hurt, we have a choice. Deal with it appropriately , talk about it, and forgive OR stuff it, pretend like it doesn't hurt and become prsioners of bitterness. Too often I see people choose the latter. But the pain is always there...just under the surface. And then it flares up at the most inconvienent times. That is not good.

This is also true of our relationship with God. That is why wrapped up in the gospel are the ideas of confession and repentance. When we come face to face with God, we have to recognize and admit that we have problems. Sin is real. It is terribly damaging. And there is nothing we can do about it on our own. Thus the need for confession and repentance. That is painful. It is also a daily process for most of us. But the good news is God is able to cleanse us from the unrighteous things in our lives. He willingly does this day after day, even moment after moment. How great is the love of the Father!

So, in the long run, I am glad I had the root canal. Two weeks from now I will get a crown...and the dentist tells me that tooth will be better. It sure beats ignoring it and just hoping that it will all go away.

It still hurts...but better times are ahead.