The Sliver

A few weeks ago our son got his very first sliver.
And, Oh, the DRAMA....

At the very mention of tweezers he went absolutely ballistic. I'm talking full on SCREAMING and tears. You would think that we had told him we were going to cut his finger off. He pleaded and pleaded with us not pull it out, all the while protecting his little hand with all his little boy strength.

I kept reassuring him that if he would just sit still it would be over in just a couple of second.
But there was a battle....
Think two-year-old-tantrum, only in a five year old fashion. (which simply means louder and tantrum-y-er!)

After about a 15 minute struggle I finally convinced him to somewhat relax and let me take out. As soon as he calmed down (a bit) and sat still (kinda) I seized a perfect moment and it literally took just 2 seconds to pull it out.
I explained to him that if he had just let me do this in the first place it would have only taken a couple of seconds and he could have saved himself all of the fear and anxiety he had just experienced.

Afterwards we put on a cool helicopter band aid (even though there was no bleeding) and had a good snuggle. The whole experience got me thinking......

I think we all have slivers in our lives. Things that have forced their way in. Things that are foreign to us and threaten to infect the very being of who we are. Maybe it's a hurt we've experienced or a lie that we have chosen to believe about ourselves.
Sometimes a sliver can be so small it can go unnoticed. It may hurt a little after some time but instead of pulling it out right away we ignore it.
But the thing about slivers is that if the are not removed they can get infected and hurt us even more.
The slivers in our lives can become infected with fear, anxiety, anger, bitterness, hatred, pride, unforgiveness and on and on.

Thankfully we have a Father that wants to pull them all out. He want to cleans us from all our "slivers", whether they are brand new or have been infecting us for a long time.

Sometimes we can easily hand ourselves over and allow God to pull out our slivers, but sometimes it is a lot harder than that. There are times when the scene can look a lot like the one my son and I had.
Sometimes we would rather keep our slivers than go through the pain it would take to remove them. Sometimes we don't want to take the risk, we just don't want to "go there."

But here's the thing. Our slivers will always be there until we allow God to remove them. They will always affect us, not matter how hard we try to bury them down deep, they won't ever go away until we hand 'em over.

During the time just before I pulled out my son's sliver he was wailing, pleading with me to stop. He was making all sorts of promises of what he'd do if I would just stop.
Isn't it the same way with God. All the while we kick and scream in the attempt to hold onto the things in our lives that are hurting us if we just allowed God to take them out without putting up a fight, we could save ourselves all the fear and anxiety that comes with it.

See, I didn't want my little guy to get a sliver. It wasn't me who pushed the wood in. I didn't hope for him to get a sliver so that I could teach him a lesson. No, if I could, I would protect him from every single thing that threatens him.
So, how can I think that my Father feels any differently towards me?

I don't believe that God "puts slivers" in our path to mold us, or teach us lessons. Rather, I think that because of the world we live in, slivers are inevitable, and like any good parent God is there to make it better.
He's there with his tweezers ready to pull out all the yuckiness...but here's the kicker. God won't make us.
He is waiting for us to turn to him. He's waiting for us to hand over our lives and say "Help."

I took my troubles to the Lord;
I cried out to him, and he answered my prayer.
Psalm 120: 1

Really, it all comes down to trust.
Did my little guy trust me that I needed to get his sliver out and although it hurt him a little if I had left it in there, it would have hurt him so much more. Did he trust me to be as gentle as I could?
Do we trust God?

Here's my challenge.
What slivers do I still have in my life?
Are there slivers that have gone unnoticed?
Are there slivers buried deep inside affecting me everyday?
Will I hand myself over...even it it means going through a little bit of pain?
Do I trust God??