“Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law.” (Ps.119:136)
Today was my turn to sit in the dentist’s chair. I never never never wish that to happen to anyone.
It’s a mind drilling experience. I thought that numbing works fine, yet I was wrong.
As the doctor put the needle with anesthetic I was fine. As he took out part of the tooth I was fine.
But as he started to drill, that was it! The pain at that chair equaled the roar of 10,000 lions bitten by 100,000 wasps. I thought I would choke on my saliva, but I didn’t. “My God! My God My God” This was the first time, when I prayed so loud at the dentist’s.
I think doctor and his helper were a bit disturbed as well.
But, praise God, I survived.
It was a slow turning round shaped drill, technically called “bur” that the young doctor used to get closer to the nerve. And he got real close. I felt it with my whole head. I cried. Doctor’s assistant, she asked me if I was all right. Then the doctor cleaned the root canal and put some temporary fix. That was it. Big deal, some would say. But for me it was the time of revelation: both about my teeth and about my evangelistic zeal or lack thereof.
As he was done, he showed me the X-ray of my teeth. There was a black cloud inside the neighboring tooth. And the good news is that that caries cloud is dangerously close to the nerve. One more time I will have this wasp experience. Hopefully I will survive. Ahhh!
You probably will think that I am crazy, but in that chair I got a rebuke from the Lord in the lack of my evangelistic zeal. It spurred me to be more zealous in sharing the Gospel. I mean it’s simple. There are 2 types of pain. One is dental temporary pain, and another type is eternal pain of separation from God, pain of the Lake of Fire, pain which God the righteous Judge will give as the punishment to all those who refused to obey the Gospel of Christ. One is the pain done in order to save a person’s health and sometimes life, another type of pain is done in order to punish a person who persisted in his sin and rebellion towards God.
So what I am leading this to is this. This dentist wasn’t afraid to inflict that pain to me (ok, he stopped drilling when I groaned, but then he continued) in order to fix my tooth, in order to save me from bigger pain in the future. On the other hand, I am afraid to witness the Gospel to people, because I feel that I will put them to an awkward situation, or will “inflict pain” to their conscience. Yet I know that the person I witness to can be saved from eternal punishment in hell though faith in Jesus. This little prick to his conscience can save that person’s immortal soul. Yet I am “nicely” silent. I say together with Melville’s Bartleby the Scrivener:
“I’d prefer not to.”
What? Am I numb? Can’t I speak to others of what depths of sin Christ saved me? No way! And I shiver at this thought that I want to have salvation and Jesus only for myself. And yet that person will be doomed to experience a billion times the pain that I experienced in that chair. That thought really struck me as I was sitting in that dentist’s chair. Of course God can send someone else to witness, but isn’t it right that we should use every opportunity to share the Good News?
My spiritual apathy, my evangelistic poverty if not bankruptcy started to bother me big time. My pain is going to be dealt with. I am going to be fine. My sins are covered by the Blood of the Lamb. And what about others? Do we care? Do we need a drill? Or do we care enough to share the Good News with others? Not out of guilt or as a drudgery, but joyfully as to the Lord.
So, brothers, let’s continue to preach the Gospel! In season or out of season, with teeth, or toothless. And may God give you more opportunities and wisdom for that.