When I was 13 years old, I had to have a root canal on one of my molars. I remember asking the dentist if he could just pull it. "Oh, no!" he declared. "We need to save this tooth!" I knew it would mean several days of going back to the dentist, which it was; and I knew it would cost my dad more money than just an extraction (which it did).
So, trusting our dentist, we set up the appointments to get the root canal done.
When I went in for my first appointment, much to our surprise, his son, then an apprentice of his dad, is the one who worked on me. Although the senior dentist was present for most of the work, the junior dentist is the one who did the whole procedure.
It was all over after about a week, which to me seemed like a year. I was SO glad to have gotten that taken care of, and to have that behind me.
Fast-forward to my days in college (about 4 years later). We had to take a whole day, and a trip of nearly two hours, to visit our dentist in Oklahoma so he could do some more work on it. I don't remember what he did, but I remember it involved a shot and a swollen jaw.
A few years later, the cap on that tooth fell off, so we visited our kind dentist in Mexico (a different one than the one that did the root canal); he quickly cleaned it and capped it. No pain, and I was out of the office in less than 30 minutes.
This tooth, though, gave me trouble of one sort or another from the time I was 13 years old.
Two years ago, as I was preparing for a trip to the United States, it began hurting so badly and giving me terrible headaches. We went to a local (new-to-us) dentist, who took an x-ray of the tooth and told us: "Whoever did this root canal didn't do a thorough job. Part of the roots are still there, and there is an infection in this tooth." He gave me an antibiotic and told me to come back after my trip to the States.
Well, by the time I got back from the States, two months had passed, and the tooth had not given me a bit of trouble. So, not wanting to go back to the dentist, I purposefully neglected to talk to my husband about making an appointment, and life went on. Although during the past two years, there had been nagging bits of slight pain, I'd take a pain pill and go on with my day.
Until one evening in December, I was getting ready to go to a Christmas party with my husband. I was giving last-minute instructions to our children, when I bit down on a chip of something hard in my mouth.
Huh. What was that?
We were late, so I just spit it in the trash (whatever THAT was!) and went on to the party with my husband.
Two evenings later, at another Christmas party, I bit into the deliciously baked turkey, and the cap fell off of that tooth. Oh, no! I quietly wrapped the cap into a napkin and stuck it in my purse. I didn't say anything to my husband. He wouldn't need to know. I half-way enjoyed the rest of the meal.
We went to bed that night. I reluctantly told my husband, "Ummm....the cap fell off of my tooth tonight. I need to go get the cap put back on." He told me he'd make an appointment for the next day. (We were to sing at a wedding that weekend, and I needed my tooth to be fixed before we left.)
But the next morning, I got up really early, and while I was brushing my teeth, the inevitable happened. A part of that tooth broke off. Augh. Oh, no!! Now, what?!
Being the terrible coward that I am when it comes to dentists, I put off going to the dentist. We spent a wonderful weekend at the wedding and with family members. Not a word was said about my tooth. Not one single person, except for my husband, knew about my tooth.
We spent 14 glorious days with my mother in our home for the Christmas holidays. My tooth gave me not one single problem. No pain, no discomfort. I pushed my dental appointment to the back of my mind.
And yet, I knew I'd have to deal with it sooner or later. And sooner came quicker than later.
The day after we returned home from taking my mother to her home, the pain started. I began having to take a pain killer every 7 hours. The problem with my tooth loomed in front of me and I could no longer push it to the back of my mind.
My horrors and nightmares were coming true. I was ABSOLUTELY going to have to go to the dentist. There was just no way around it.
Fast-forward to this past Thursday morning. I made the dreaded phone call. I made an appointment for the earliest time available on Friday morning. After confirming the appointment, fear and dread filled my heart. There was something in the pit of my stomach.
Finally, it was Friday morning. I prepared to go to my appointment. My son, Andrew, went with me. On the drive there, I told him, "By 12:00, it will all be over. I am going to put myself in the hands of the expert and just get it over with."
After the dentist checked me, he said, "It needs to be pulled."
I knew it. I didn't argue. I didn't ask for other suggestions. I was ready to be FREE from this burden. I'd been dealing with this problem for 30 years.
I surrendered my will to the dentist's will. Whatever it took, whatever it cost, I was ready and I was willing!
I won't give you the gruel-some details, but the dentist, ever so gently and lovingly as possible, extracted what had been giving me so much pain and worry, and what had burdened me for so many years. After he gave me my shots, it took exactly FOUR MINUTES for him to pull it.
4 MINUTES! That was all!
Is this what we call "Swanky-Jawed"?
Was it painful? Yes. You bet. I am now on my third day into recovery, and it hasn't been fun.
Am I glad I did it? Indeed! I only wish I had taken care of this sooner.
And all the while, my Lord brought the following thoughts to my mind:
This is exactly how sin is in our lives. Actions of sinfulness and activities of displeasure to our Lord creep into our lives, and slowly begin taking root. We know it's there. We know it's growing. But we choose to hide it, to stay quiet about it, hoping it will go away, yet knowing all the while that it WILL need to be dealt with one day.
"Come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord."
We know He extends to us the invitation to let go of that sin. Release it to the One who died to take away our sins, He who knows exactly how to deal with that in your life.
Aren't you tired of your sin? Aren't you tired of carrying the burden and the consequences of that sin? Give it up! Confess it! Get it out in the open! Tell it to Jesus! Repent, be cleansed, and get on with your life!
Jesus came to give us life, and to give us life more abundantly. You CANNOT live an abundant life in Christ while carrying weights that bog you down.
Be free today!
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." I John 1:9
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