The Tooth Will Set You Free: A Little Bit Of Wisdom

A little over a week ago, I went in for oral surgery to have my wisdom teeth removed. This was long overdue.  I was forewarned, that because I’m in my 30’s that recovery was going to be a little hard. They drilled that statement so many times, that I was starting to feel brittle and old.  Anyways, sometimes I’m a little stubborn when it comes to things like this and should have just down it a decade ago. There were no complications,  I went in on a Friday, got home, rested and ate a butt load on pudding and jello. Everything seemed to be fine. Saturday comes along and I was up, out and about doing things.

Sunday I went to church even though I had planned on being out, then went

and celebrated mother’s day by taking my wife out to eat Mexican and

throwing axes, as we had a kid-free weekend.

It was my intentions to get back to work Monday and continue on with life like normal.

Then Monday came……

I was scheduled to work from home Monday to give me a little more recovery time, and I was spending the day studying for some certifications. I was feeling weak and drained and that night we went to pick up the kids. We made it home late, and I was dead….

Then Tuesday came…..

I don’t remember much of Tuesday. I could not get out of bed. I was in pain and in nearly more tears than I was during the opening scene of Avenger’s Endgame. (I cry during movies, deal with it) I spent the day either in bed passed out or in the restroom sick to my stomach.

Long story short I don’t digest food very well and have had many doctor visits over the years about stomach issue (IBS), and I also struggle with anxiety. The problem that I have with anxiety is that I get increased anxiety taking medication, so I don’t take medication for my anxiety. So with already known stomach issues, antibiotics that typically increase my stomach issues, the anxiety from taking medication*, and eating nothing but pudding and jello, I was a wreck that day.

(*I was on hydrocodone which the anxiety part of my brain is going into overtime saying, you will get addicted and became a drug addict, and will ruin your family and ministry. These I logically know that most like is not going to happen, but that is a demon that I even fight in my head on vitamins, ibuprofen, and NyQuil. Not the best, but I manage to navigate life pretty normal)

It took me a few more days to get things moving to normal, and I’m still recovering slowly. But here is my take away from it.

We wait……

I was told at a young age that I should have them removed. The past 5 years my dentist has pushed me to remove them, and yet I never listened. I tried to wait it out. I’ll get around to it someday. We are kinda like that in our spiritual life. We might have been told about God at some point in our life, and may even genuinely listened but told ourselves, “I’ll wait until another time” or “I want to figure life out first” or “I have to make things right before I come to God.” Whatever the line that you have told yourself, we always think that there will be somewhere down the line. I waited until I was in pain before I looked into getting them removed.

When I was in pain and called for my consult, I was originally told that they couldn’t get around to me for about a month. I was in despair and now had to wait longer. I asked for some prayer on Facebook. I humbled myself to ask, and God answered. An old high school friend who I didn’t know worked at the office saw the post, was the one that scheduled me, and then when she got in the office was able to get me in for a consult that Thursday.

Check out that post

This worked out for me, but that’s not always the case. And if I would have gone years ago, when advised, and not waited, I would not have been in this boat. Don’t wait until you are stuck in a rut, and life is a mess before you come to Jesus.

We fill up…

I thought that filling up with pudding, jello and ice cream sounded good. I could fill up with that for a week, but it was not filling me up, and later added to an upset stomach. I should have filled up with more broth, and nutritious foods, but I didn’t. Sometimes as believers we see what the world is offering, that appeal and we only want to fill up on that. The world provides all the icecream, the pudding, the jello, that we fill up on, which I’m not saying in small amounts is bad at times. Having fun is good, and I believe God wants us to enjoy life, but without filling up on nutrition we become sick. We need to fill up on spiritual nutrition?

I had a dry spell in my walk years ago, where I left the church, I thought could do things by myself (stubborn much?) I gave up accountability with others? Shortly after that, I stopped reading and studying, stopped praying. I stopped spiritually filling up. I became more filled with the world and became the bitter sick Christian that said, “I’m a pretty good person, I don’t murder people right”? I was sick on the inside, but still told myself I believe in Jesus. I wasn’t filled with the right stuff.

I knew that being filled with soups and broth was better for me. I was even told that it would help speed up the healing process, but I justified it by saying that that doctors told me to eat soft food, and pudding, jello, and ice cream is on the list. So I filled up on junk. If you say you are a follower of Christ, yet you are not practicing the ways of Jesus, I will be honest with you, more than likely you don’t get it. You are not letting Jesus in to fill you. Being filled up with the Holy sprite makes that desire in your heart. Yeah, you may be saved, I’m not questioning that or trying to sound legalistic, but there is more to Jesus than the get out of hell free card. He can fill you with the good stuff. He can heal you quicker than just struggling and surviving through life.

Take care of yourself…..

Take care of yourself. I didn’t do the best job of staying on top of my care for my recovery. I’m still recovering, and I know there will be an end to this, but if I had taken the proper recommended rest, and care, and stepped out of my own ways, I could have had a good week. Sometimes God asks us to do something. He is the creator of us, so I would say it should go without saying He would know what’s best for our care. We are given many examples of how to live a way that God intended, how to take care of ourselves, and these are not just because he said so, but for our own care. A question I hear a lot from people is, why can’t we have multiple sex partners? If we love each other that is all that should matter? However good that may sound, our hearts don’t work that way.

Jerimiah 17:9 says “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” I know my heart cannot equally serve more than one woman. I know I would pick a favorite. I can say I won’t, but I know I would. Even if it was just fulfilling sexual desires, you cannot consume porn and make your husband or wife feel good enough.  This is why many marriages end because of infidelity or the lack of intimacy. This would not be real self-care, and my marriage would fail. I have to care for my marriage, and my wife, who I have chosen to be one with. This is why God created the covenant of marriage.  This is just one example out of many in the Bible.

I had to read the care recovery instructions and even call the doctor because I was concerned with an issue, to make sure I was taking care of myself. I also had to rely a lot on my wife. This is the same for our walk with Christ. As mentioned about, we need to be digging into scripture, talking to God, and allowing others to speak into our lives and support us. This is how we do are part of taking care of our relation with God.

I know wisdom teeth have nothing to actually do with wisdom, but this experience did give me a lot to chew on (since I couldn’t chew food lol) I hope the tooth will set you free! Thank you for reading.