Growing up, I was always finding things to keep me busy. I loved being outside, especially when it involved working in the yard. I even enjoyed pulling weeds and vines. Yard work was not a drudgery to me at all!
Once, when my one of my parents gave me their gloves to wear while doing yard work, I thought, “These are way too big for me!” As I got older, however, I became appreciative of those gloves because they protected my hands from bugs, dirt, cuts, and splinters, just to name a few! There were times, though, that I did not wear the gloves during yard work and got a splinter in my hand.
My mom was a professional at getting splinters out of our hands. She could have been a skilled surgeon by the way she worked at those splinters, tackling the job with such attention. I trusted her to do it, too; it was out of my control, so I had to let her help me. Mom understood the importance of why they needed to come out and of how to do a thorough job of it. Splinters can cause an infection, or worse, if left untreated.
These splinters were a constant reminder of what happened when I did not take precautions by wearing gloves. Getting those splinters out was unpleasant and painful, depending on how deep they were. However, once the splinter was taken out, my hand could heal.
And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: – Ephesians 4:30-31
In our Christian lives, there are things that can hurt us like those splinters like unconfessed sin, broken relationships, being offended by something someone said, and more. These hurts can seem like little inconveniences that we may just put off or ignore for some time, but when we let them go “untreated,” we are destined to have bigger problems in the future. They must be taken to the One Who can get the “splinters” out completely. God’s skilled hands can handle our hurts when we are willing to go to Him. We can pray to confess our sins, to ask Him for His help with our broken relationships, and to give Him all our hurts. He wants us to go to Him. Once we tell the Lord about our “splinters,” He can help us and heal us if we will let Him.
When I had a splinter, the splinter would hurt every time I used my hand to do something, and I quickly was reminded that I needed to have it removed. Just like in our lives, when we go to God in prayer, He reminds us about that “splinter” and that we must take it to Him so He can help us. Psalm 66:18 says, If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: When we carry around our unconfessed sin, the Lord will not hear us until we confess and get it right. As soon as possible, we must go to God, the One with the steady hands Who wants to help us, so that He can heal us of our hurts.
“Are you weary, are you heavy hearted?
Tell it to Jesus, Tell it to Jesus;
Are you grieving over joys departed?
Tell it to Jesus alone.
Do the tears flown down your cheeks unbidden?
Tell it to Jesus, Tell it to Jesus;
Have you sins that to men’s eyes are hidden?
Tell it to Jesus alone.
Tell it to Jesus, Tell it to Jesus,
He is a friend that’s well known;
You’ve no other such a friend or brother,
Tell it to Jesus alone.”
–– Jeremiah Eames Rankin
by Mandy Harper