(guest blog by Philip Schroeder)
I was cleaning out old wood. I’ve worked with wood and construction since my teens years and am fully aware what the smallest of splinters can do to my hands, even so, I usually prefer not to wear gloves. That said my hands are not nearly as toughened as they were when I was full time in carpentry. Sure enough I got a splinter in my hand. I now have a choice. Let it be, ignore it, hoping it will go away or “do surgery”, which consists of using a finger nail clipper and tearing open the flesh to expose enough of the splinter to pull it out
Problems that need resolving are like splinters. Truth is like “surgery” to get the splinter out. It hurts. It’s inconvenient. We wish we didn’t have to do it. We might even attempt to ignore it. Grace is the relief and healing that comes when the splinter is finally removed
Not wanting to hurt, usually leaves the problem unresolved, it continues to fester like an infection and eventually causes greater pain than prompt “surgery”. If you leave the splinter in, you know it’s going to fester and create a worse infection. But it’s painful, and takes courage to cut into the flesh, and remove the splinter. No matter how much you massage, and pour disinfectants on the splinter it won’t heal until it is removed. Truth hurts because we want to be gracious. But grace that allows untruth to thrive is no longer grace.
Scripture:
Ps 119:133; Isa 61:1; Joh 7:17; 8:31-36; 14:6; Ro 8:2; 2Co 3:17; Ga 5:1; 2Ti 3:7
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