I hope you read that correctly? I wrote, tooth filling, not tooth fairy! For you superstitious folks out there! Haha . . . Just kidding . . .
Anyway, sometime in December last year, I had my annual dental checkup and in the run up to that time, I noticed that when crushing chicken bones (if you know, you know!) one of my molars ached like as it was something unthinkable! Hey you tooth, I brush you everyday and take care of you. How dare you ache?
Well, that tooth ignored me reminding me that it too provides a very non-negotiable service and deserved to be pampered even though it occupied probably less than 0.1% surface area of my whole body.
So, at my appointment, after all the checks and oohs and aahs, I mentioned the dull ache to my dentist who decided on doing an X-ray of my white friends. On receiving the results, said molar had a slight hole/crack and she recommended filling. I agreed and went to her filled last Monday. Not the doctor; the tooth!
If you know/are a member of my family, our bodies fight getting numbed. It took 4 injections and/or sprays for me not to feel the pain when she started removing the decayed part of the tooth. In the end, I just had to endure some pain. I wonder how much it would then take for drunkenness?
By the time I got home, the left side of my face was fully numb and felt swollen. I looked in the mirror . . . just to make sure I still looked normal. I was talking from the right side of my mouth and tried to eat some crackers biscuits, which was a chore, commenting that I could not feel my mouth including some of my tongue.
Then my brother, faith man that he is, commented, it’s just like faith, isn’t it?
That side comment stayed with me and I chewed on it for a while, sharing the results of my chew with you . . .
Whilst eating those crackers, and then my dinner, although I couldn’t feel my mouth, I knew I still had a mouth with teeth, tongue, gum, jaw, the whole works! I was slower and more deliberate in my chewing and swallowing and even slowed down my speech.
When we go through difficult seasons where it feels like GOD isn’t there like HE used to be and we feel we’re groping in the dark for something, for anything to hold on to, that’s the time to take it slow but keep going. Don’t stop our declarations of and belief in HIS goodness, love and faithfulness.
Because HE is still WHO HE says HE is, whether we feel HIM or not.
My dentist advised me not to drink any hot drinks or bite my lips as I would not feel the pain till when the anaesthetic wears off. Well, isn’t that what we are meant to do when crazy is happening around or to us? Don’t make any rash decisions. We want to come out of that season unscathed, not wounded still, not full of regrets.
When I drank water, I could feel my drinking from just the right side of my lips but since no water was dripping down my pyjamas, I knew my drinking was happening as it should! Principle? Look for ALL the things that are going right even in the dark seasons. There’s always a wave of light around, because darkness and light are alike to HIM (Psalm 139:12). It may not be as bright and colourful as you’d prefer but if you look, you’ll find it. Then thank GOD for that Light!
By morning, full feeling had returned to my mouth. In the same vein, joy comes in the morning (Psalm 30:5). The darkness is never forever. Day and night shall never cease (Genesis 8:22) till HE says so.
Although I still felt a bit of pain where the needles had gone in, less than a week later, all was restored to normalcy. Whatever residue of that dark season that remains when you walk into the light, shall fade in the light of GOD’s Face continually shining on you (Numbers 6:25).
To your staying through, . . .
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