It was that time again. I was at the dentist for my last appointment needed to correct substandard care I'd been getting from another dentist. For the years I had been seeing the unnamed dentist, I was happy. Quite happy, in fact. He'd never given me a shot. I rarely needed anything more than a cleaning. On the couple occasions when he'd found a cavity, he pushed some filling material in it without much drilling and without me needing any anesthesia. He said this was all that was needed. I believed him, mostly because I really wanted to. But finally, the nagging feeling in my mind surged forward enough that I started to question this reality. With no other dentist had I been able to go so long without a real filling, and never had I gotten such glowing reports on my teeth. See, I have the very thinnest of enamel on my teeth, the result of over-fluoridation of the water supply when my mother was pregnant with me. And that means cavities have been a normal part of my life, my entire life. So a dentist telling me all was well, time and again, felt great, but part of me knew it didn't seem right.
Finally, when an old filling came out, I searched out a new dentist. I learned that this filling came out because there was a cavity around it that had not been repaired, for a long while. I found out I had two cracked teeth with bad fillings which ended up needing crowns. I found out there were cavities in several other teeth, and they weren't new. They should have been evident on the x-rays for at least several of my appointments. Even I could see them on the x-rays. And so began a year-long journey of replacing bad fillings, getting crowns, and getting new fillings on the cavities that had been ignored. And this, this was to be the last filling, and it was on the top, which meant it was much easier to deaden and should go easy. You can probably guess that not all went well.
The actual appointment went great. The tooth deadened immediately, which is unusual for me. The drilling, filling, filing, and smoothing went great. My eye felt weird, but I didn’t worry about it much. I paid my bill, and started to leave. A lady in the waiting room spoke to me, I answered and smiled......and she laughed. Odd, I thought. So when I got in my car, I looked in the mirror and smiled. And laughed. One whole half of my face didn't work at all. At ALL!! It did look funny. After I got home, and Ashley and Scott had their laugh, I went on about the day. But my face didn't....not for quite a few hours. It took about six hours before my face started working correctly. But it didn't end there. It stayed swollen like a chipmunk for two days. And now, five days later, it still has a golf ball sized bruise on my cheek. Perhaps you can understand why I hate to visit the dentist. The oddest things happen to me, and I won't even go into all the trouble they usually have getting my teeth to deaden.
Here's what I found interesting. If the paralysis, swelling, and bruising had not been present, no one would have known I'd had work done. But in this case, work done on the inside was reflected on the outside. I started thinking about my Christian walk. What is done in my soul, in my mind and heart, in my life, will show on the outside. If I am maturing in my faith, people should be able to see that by the way I live. If I am growing more like Christ, that should be evident to those around me. If I am stagnant in my walk, that will show too. Luke 6:45 tells us “A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.” What is inside us comes out. It shows on the outside. A good vine produces good fruit while a bad vine can only produce bad fruit.
What happens inside me will show in the way I live. So it comes down to what do I want my life to be. Do I want to be a weak, marginal Christian who just gets by, or do I want to be filled with God's power, love, grace, mercy, and wisdom? I can say whatever I want, but that is worth nothing. If I truly long for the Christian life God wants me to have, I will work for it. I will read my Bible, spend time in prayer, attend church, and have a real relationship with Jesus. It's completely up to me. And you will know my decision as you see me either grow and mature, or stagnate, or even retreat. I pray you will see me grow, and I hope you will join me in the journey.
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