Splinters

Splinters. Oh the terror it used to be to get a splinter out. It takes a village…. to get a splinter out. Someone to hold the child, someone else to hold a light, and another someone to get the splinter out.

My daughter got one in her toe today. She is tough. If she has a loose tooth, she will work it until it comes out, even if it’s not ready to. And she does it without tears. Most of her tears, when she has any, is from dramatics. Not because she’s actually hurt she just likes attention. My boys are a different story. They just cry and cry. And cry.

So we are at home and she’s complaining that it’s hurting. Ok well, we need to get it out. Immediately, the tears started. “PLEASE don’t use the tweezers or a needle!!” So I have to be all 3 people. The light holder, the child holder AND the splinter getter outer. We all know how the story goes. There are tears from the fear that it will hurt. So we say, “If it hurts, I’ll stop.” Then there’s the trust issue. “Do you trust, mama?” Yes of course they do. After 10 minutes, you finally convince them to use the needle. “It’ll get worse if we don’t get it out.” Then comes the tears again because it DOES hurt a tiny bit, and you said it wouldn’t. Then we’re back to square one, because now they won’t be still. And you know if they would, it wouldn’t hurt. But with them moving and fighting you, it’s impossible to keep that needle steady. And so there’s screaming, fighting, and more tears. They can’t even hear your explanation or instructions above their noise. Somehow in the midst of all that, if you’re lucky, you get the splinter out. And if you didn’t tell them that the splinter is out, they’d cry forever. But as soon as it’s out, everything’s better. The world is right again.

As a parent, this wears us out more than it does them. Phew! Because when it’s over, they run off playing. While you sit and rest. And you shake your head because if they’d just trust that you’re trying to help them, that they’ll be better off without that little bitty piece of wood, it’d be so much better.

Ok, so we all know where this is going right? We come to Jesus with our splinters. They are beginning to hurt a little and we want Him to get it out. But as soon as He gets the tools necessary to do that, we immediately start putting up a fight. “Oh, not that!! Lord please that will hurt!!” He tries to tell us we’re already hurting, so just let Him get it out. But our mind’s on the pain we think will come, not realizing it will hurt more the longer it stays. And the whole time we fight Him. We cry, we scream, we think He’s just trying to hurt us. He promised all things work for our good, so why does it hurt so bad?? And sometimes we push away. It’s too much. I’ll just deal with the pain I have from the splinter. I don’t want it out anymore. It doesn’t hurt that bad really. But He, like any good father (or mama) knows that isn’t what’s best for us. He knows infection can come. He knows the pain that the infection will cause. He knows it will hurt worse the longer it stays in. And if not taken care of, that tiny piece of wood could possibly become life threatening. And so He starts coaxing us again, whispering comforting words again. “Just let me fix it. It won’t take long.” The whole time, we fight. Maybe even at some point, we think, He doesn’t really love us at all.

How much easier would that splinter come out if we would just trust Him. Be still, quit fighting, and let Him do His work?

I really don’t like making my children cry. But even more than that, I can’t stand when they don’t trust me. That they think I might hurt them on propose. That I don’t know what I’m doing. But I see the bigger issues of having the splinter in. I know that it is best to take it out.

So I take the kicks, the screams, the sorrowful little eyes that beg me stop, and I continue until I’ve gotten every last little piece of that splinter out.

And when it’s finally over. I doctor the wound, I dry the tears, and I hold them close. I tell them I love them and make sure they’re ok. I watch them go off to play, like nothing even happened. And I wonder when they’ll learn. To them, it seemed like it took forever to get that splinter out when in reality it was just minutes.

My Heavenly Father is no different. He’s holding us the entire time. But we’re so focused on the pain, that we don’t realize how near He really is. The days, months and even years we think it takes for Him to work, is just moments in eternity. And the whole time, we are being held. If we could just rest there, while He’s working, we could hear His very heartbeat. With every thump- Trust Me. I love you. Trust Me. I love you. Trust Me. I love you. His presence doesn’t lessen the pain, but it does bring comfort.

The splinter is what gets us there in the first place. What caused us to run to Jesus. If we could just trust Him to do what we came to Him for, we might see that splinter as the best thing that could’ve ever happened to us.

Can I share a few verses that are comforting me right now?

Psalm 119:75 I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.

Psalm 72:12 For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper.

1 Peter 4:12-13 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

2 Corinthians 4:7-10, 15-18 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

There are so many promises in these verses that prove that what He is doing is for our good. Let’s quit fighting Him today so He can work easier to get that splinter out.

This post was very spur of the moment, but I can’t leave you without a song. And this one came to mind. (You can skip forward to 0:44 if you don’t want to hear about their CD. However, I highly recommend it to anyone who is going through a rough time. It is wonderful.)

Listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtObESswXkM