Pull Out the Weeds
You never know what may occur on a Sunday morning in house church. With nearly a dozen kiddos under the age of 10, there’s never a dull moment. From navigating hungry tummies, to overflowing toilets, to disagreements over who had the toy first, to all out dance parties, challenging Bible questions, and seeing their little arms lifted in worship, these are moments I wouldn’t trade for the world.
And following the conclusion of one particular church time, it led to the pulling of a tooth. Basically, we’re a one stop shop. Need spiritual healing or encouragement? We’ve got you covered. Need dental services? We provide that too!
Seven-year-old Alexa had been avoiding lunch that day, as she had an uncomfortably loose tooth. Her dad, attempting to rectify the situation, offered to pull the tooth for her. With minimal convincing, Alexa agreed. Dad slowly wrapped and tied a string around her tooth as Alexa sat in her chair, being careful not to make any sudden movements.
As she sat there, the fear slowly started to build. How much was this going to hurt? Should we just let it come out naturally? Then, before the fear could continue festering, her mom jumped in with a distraction to the extraction: a quick, on-the-fly story to distract Alexa from what was about to occur. In the midst of focusing on mom’s story, dad swiftly and successfully pulled the problematic tooth out.
What struck me about this situation was the trust that Alexa was placing in her dad. She knew that there was going to be some level of pain, but she was trusting that her dad knew best—that he was going to take care of her to the best of his ability and that any actions would be prompted from a place of love.
In the same way, do we trust our heavenly Father when the situation becomes uncertain? When we think hurt or pain is about to become our reality? Or do we try to control the situation ourselves because we apparently know best?
Sometimes, I’m not quite ready to let go of that thing that’s causing me current pain. I fear that the removal of that pain will be too great. I fear the unknown pain, leading me to prefer to sit in the known discomfort. At least then, I know how to respond to the circumstances.
However, until we remove the pain or obstacle, it’s going to continue to fester. To grow. To spread. To get worse. It may even become infected.
Our Father doesn’t want us to continue sitting indefinitely in that pain. He wants to weed out what is strangling our growth. He wants to clear a new path—as painful as it may be. He wants to redeem what was once broken or destroyed. And He’s able to do so. He is trustworthy.
As 1 Peter 5:8-10 alludes to, God doesn’t want to just rescue us;
he wants to restore every single thing the devil has stolen from us.
Beloved daughter, in what area of your life do you need to allow your Father to step in and restore what’s been broken?
Be free,
Lani
