The Braces of Life
By
Tracy Smith
“No
discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it
produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained
by it.”
Hebrews
12:11 (NIV)
Two years ago, as I sat
in the waiting room while my son had "round two" of braces put on, it
occurred to me that there are lessons we can learn from braces and their
purpose.
My son's mouth was
extremely small. The first round of braces included an appliance on the roof of
his mouth that widened his palette. As I had the same appliance 26 years ago, I
know how painful this is. Despite the pain, it is necessary as his teeth were
coming in too high and sideways because they had nowhere else to go. The
appliance widened the mouth and made room for the adult teeth already there,
and the adult teeth yet to come. The pain was necessary for all of his teeth to
fit comfortably in his mouth.
Sometimes God's lessons
can feel this way: painful, but necessary in order for Him to widen our lives
to fit in all that He feels is necessary.
After a period of no
braces - - while we waited for all of his adult teeth to make their way down -
- it is now time for braces again. When looking at my son, his teeth looked
fine to me. They were all in, they all fit and they were straight; however, the
orthodontist explained why his bite needed to be fixed and the teeth shifted
into their correct position. All of this will avoid problems in the
future.
Again, how much like
our Lord! His correction can be painful and seem unnecessary to us, but
God knows why we need it. He knows the painful correction is necessary in
order for us to avoid problems later in life.
The next time I feel
the “braces of life” irritating me, I will remember why they are there and look
for the lesson the Lord wants me to learn.
GOING DEEPER:
1. What painful times
of your life can you look back now and see how God was using that experience to
help you avoid future pain?
2. What can you do to
learn these lessons faster and make them less painful?
FURTHER READING:
Along with being a wife and mother to
two boys, Tracy is an administrative assistant at Oakwood, serves on the
Women’s Ministry Special Events Team and leads a great group of Junior High
girls.
