Amputation

I thought about this some last night in our struggle with sin and the goal being to reflect God. I ponder how many times God is a good surgeon who has to perform a spiritual amputation on us. What happens is that we get something in our character that does not belong in our nature. The only way God can deal with it is to remove it from us.

<> How many times may we resist this working in us? Could it be that the times that we resist God the most are simply because he is wanting to help us the most? How often does a child resist the doctor with the needle for fear that it will hurt when the parents and the doctor both know that yes, it will hurt, but the pain is only temporary. The long-term will be for the best of the child.

Are you like that at times? Am I like that? Do we not have internal struggles of the soul that seem so overwhelming that we just cry out for mercy and beg God to remove these thorns in our flesh? However, they still remain. Could it be that a quick removal is not what we need? Could it be that we need to learn to develop skills in resisting temptation that will enable us to not have to face amputation so often?

What do we do when these struggles come up then? What do we do when we know something is wrong and yet do it anyway? I think it’s best to not run from God. He is the only one who can help us as painful as that help may be at the time. When the struggle comes up and we have wars within, we should not deny it. Instead, we should go to God as the only one who can help us and beg him to help us recover from it. This should be done not expecting an instant cure. God can do that, but I don’t think that’s the way he prefers to work. We live in an instant society that wants everything now. I don’t see God acting that way.

Let it come. The screaming pain you feel might be the birth pains that will enable you to be the new person you will be. God has begun the new life within you. That new life will be completed, but it will not be a peaceful process. There will be much anguish. Do you think if they could that the pot, the gold, and the silver would all cry out in pain from what their shapers put them through? However, we know the end result is worth it.

<> Dear reader. Submit yourself to the hand of the surgeon. He knows how to operate.