Like Pulling Teeth

God is at work in the big things and the little things.  He coordinates the movement of stars (Isaiah 40:25-26), and yet he also remembers every sparrow and numbers all your hairs (Luke 12:6-7).  Nothing is too big or too small for the Lord’s wise, good superintendence.

Not to suggest that we always understand how he’s at work for good in the midst of life’s woes.  Joseph must have wondered if God had forgotten him during his thirteen dark years (see Genesis 37:2; 41:46).  But be assured, in his time and his way, the Lord weaves events to the good of his people (Genesis 50:20; Romans 8:28).

And this includes toothaches.  Last week I had the unpleasant exper­ience of having a tooth go crazy.  A dull ache accelerated into a sharp and steady pain, and eventually I was tossing and turning and pacing as I waited for my Monday morning dentist appointment.  I stared at the clock and watched the hands, killing time (minutes never passed so slowly before!):  I couldn’t relax or read or do anything but give total attention to my ridiculous tooth.  Turns out it was cracked.  The best moment of the day was when the Novocain took effect—relief!  The oral surgeon needed all of two minutes to extract my #18 molar.

What to make of a single tooth wreaking such havoc upon a grown man?  I became philosophical afterward:  to think how one small crack can bring everything to a standstill.  We need what each organ and system and intricate part has to offer; no member of the body is extraneous; the whole needs the parts and the parts need the whole.

Your physicality is a parable of the church:  when one member suffers, we all feel it (1 Corinthians 12:26); we’re in this body-life together.  The thriving of each member depends on the thriving of all the others.  To be a church and yet neglect one another is absurd—it hurts others, punishes ourselves, and dishonors Christ our Head.

Don’t let pride get a foothold in your mind—you know, that notion that you’re okay, all good, you can manage, don’t need any help…  That self-serving mindset misses the massive point of being a church body:  we’re made to live as a spiritual ecosystem of love in which we all share our needs and our bounty in a life of mutual blessing!