Some time ago, I scheduled a full dental checkup, since it had been a while.
Some of you may already be cringing and rightfully so. No, I haven’t kept up regular annual checkups in the past. In my defense, though, I do brush my teeth every morning.
Given how rarely I see the dentist, it should not come as a surprise that I had a cavity that needed filling.
The day arrived, and off to the dentist I went.
My name was called, and I followed the friendly receptionist to my assigned room. You know, the one with the comfy reclining chair. I leaned back as they clipped a bib around my neck. It’s then that I notice a TV hanging high up on the wall. I suppose it’s there to help patients focus on something else while the dentist is working in their mouths.
Believe me, I quickly came to the understanding that the TV wasn’t there to listen to. I’m not sure about your experience, but I couldn’t hear the TV over the drilling and grinding. Also, this sent sound waves reverberating through my jaw bones to my eardrums, at times even buffering the whirring drill, let alone the TV. Even if I’d wanted the volume turned up, it would’ve been nearly impossible to make that request.
Which brings me to the rubber dam, which effectively reduced my attempts to communicate to guttural, moaning sounds. Not only did it render me speechless, but it also inhibited my reflex to swallow…my own spit (not to be crude).
I’m so deeply thankful for the attentive dental assistant holding the suction tube.
Although this has never been my experience, I am left to wonder: if the dental assistant isn’t paying attention, what combination of sounds would I use to communicate, “Hey, I am drowning here!”?
Is this sounding at all familiar?
After that is all complete, still wearing my bib, I’m led off to another room, where I’m warmly greeted by the pleasant dental hygienist. She introduces herself and directs me to another comfy chair. We chat for a bit about things like the weather.
Once we got that out of the way, she inspected the X-rays and the report on the work the dentist just completed, she reclined the chair, and pointed the bright light into my mouth.
Now ready, she proceeded to inspect my teeth. My lips were pulled in multiple unnatural contortions as she conducted a thorough examination, using a small magnifying mirror for those hard-to-see spots. Revealing the work to be done.
After getting herself into the optimal position, she proceeded to use multiple shiny, sharp instruments to pick and chip away at the plaque buildup.
Once satisfied with that part of the cleaning, out came the floss. She wrapped what seemed to be ten feet of floss between her two index fingers and began to forcefully drag the floss back and forth between my teeth.
I have to admit, there were certain areas where the floss felt more like rope.
Satisfied with the flossing, out came the air-powered polishing tool. She dabbed the end of it into the paste, giving each tooth special attention.
The final action was the rinse. She sprayed water over the whole inside of my mouth, making sure to remove any loose residue left clinging to my teeth. This time, I was the one responsible for the suction.
After rinsing, she performed another close-up inspection. Not having to stretch my lips far, as they were still trying to regain their original shape.
You know what I am talking about. Right?
Still reclined in the chair, she asked me one of the most profound questions.
“So, Mr. Miller, how are you doing with your flossing?”
Let’s stop and ponder her question.
After the X-rays. After the filling. After the close inspection and deep cleaning. After everything she had just seen with her own eyes…she asked that question.
As the full weight of it hit me, I started to snicker. “That’s a very interesting question since you already know the answer,” I said.
Smiling, she replied, “Yes, I do.”
And that’s when it struck me: when we meet with God, He’s a lot like my dental hygienist.
She didn’t condemn me. She didn’t shame me in any way. God doesn’t either. But He will ask how my heart is doing.
He gives me the opportunity to be honest with Him…to admit that, at times, my heart is not doing so good.
After my laughter subsided, we talked about the importance of flossing and the pitfalls of neglecting it. She encouraged me to floss every day and sent me home with my own packet of floss.
God already knows. Yet, He calls us to seek him—and to do the steady, sometimes uncomfortable work, tending to what we have ignored. Not alone but with Him working in and alongside us.
You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue, you, Lord, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
Psalm 139: 1-12 NIV
“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.”
Psalm 139: 23-24 NIV
Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Reality is that life can be overwhelming. We’re impacted by what is happening in our world and communities. Not to mention the burdens we carry for our hurting friends and family. This weight can cause us to choose one of these options. Positivity and power or quiet withdrawal. Both repress the burdens deep within our souls, only till some later time when they can no longer be controlled by our out-of-sight-out-of-mind willpower. They manifest in all forms of addictive and medicating behaviors as they become the driver of our downward spiral. However, there is a third option: stepping into the reality of these verses.
I have to admit, friends, that as the world around me gets increasingly more complicated, I tend to have a short memory that God already knows my inner battles, my repressed burdens, and trauma. Thankfully, my heart doesn’t linger in this suffocating amnesia. As I turn toward God in honest surrender, I’m comforted by God’s presence. His presence, which offers an illogical peace. An illogical peace which continues to amaze me. An illogical peace that is overwhelmingly evident in spite of the chaotic world around me.
Be encouraged, God already knows.