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
As I sit in the waiting room while my son has "round two" of braces put on, it occurs 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 look fine to me. They are all in, they all fit and they are straight; however, the orthodontist explained why his bite needs 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.
