A Spiritual Root Canal

"Pursue peace with all people and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God: lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble and by this many become defiled." (Heb 12:14-15)

Today I had a root canal done, and I will have it finished next week. In the middle of January I went to the dentist for my usual checkup and cleaning and was told that I had some decay. Now, I had no indications, pain or discomfort that would have alerted me to the fact that there was decay in process. So, the following week I went in and had the filling done. I was in the chair for almost two hours, for what was supposed to be a small filling.

From that time, until today, I have been in tremendous pain. Apparently the dentist went too deep and exposed a nerve, then put the filling right on top of the nerve. Not only did it make my tooth extremely painful and sensitive to hot and cold, it also caused great pain in my ear, the side of my head, and my shoulders. Apparently the nerve from this tooth, goes vertically down from the lower tooth and runs right into a main nerve which can affect many different parts of the body.

The solution to this problem is a root canal. This involves drilling out the filling which covers the exposed nerve, then taking out the whole nerve, the "root," is removed completely and finally when that is done and finished, then comes relief.

Last year my mother and father came to visit us from Scotland. Prior to coming to Jesus, my father was a violent alcoholic. I grew up witnessing violence and hatred. My father did not like me at all. I was interested in the things of Jesus as a boy and this made me an enemy to my father, as he had "lost," his wife to Christ. He only ever referred to me as "idiot,' or "hey you." I longed to be loved by this man. I longed to hear my name on his lips. Nothing was ever good enough, he was never impressed by anything that I did, and I did not hear one positive word out of his mouth for me my whole childhood. I simply gave up trying.

Now my father came to Christ 17 years ago. I came to Christ 13 years ago. I forgave my father, but there was never any words spoken about it. I do not believe I ever really had a real meaningful conversation with my dad. I still longed for affirmation from him, but it never came. I found my security and worth in Christ Jesus and He has dramatically turned my life around. Yet, in the back of my mind, in the deepest recesses, I guess I still longed to hear some words of affirmation from him.

Prior to my dad coming out last year, I asked Pastor Dan to pray for the situation. I told him that I had nothing to say to my dad, I had no unforgiveness in my heart and I loved him dearly, but that I longed to hear some things from him. My father is not a well man and the thought of him dying and leaving these things unsaid was a sad thought. The Lord had put this on my heart. One night, after our men's meeting, I asked Pastor Dave to pray for me in regard to my father. After that I prayed for a young man for a certain issue in his life. I told him that he had to see his situation as a battle and that he had to fight to gain victory. As I drove home that night, the Lord turned that prayer on me. He showed me that the enemy had planted a flag, right in the center of my heart, denoting that this was his territory. The Lord wanted me to go to battle, break through the lines and remove that flag. He gave me the exact words to say. I was to go home, find my father in the basement, turn the television of, look him straight in the eye, and tell him I was going to say something and I did not want him to interrupt. Then I was to say to him, "Dad, as far as I am concerned, there s no past between us, only now and the future and I love you so much."

Now that may sound simple to many of you, yet, this was one of the hardest things that I had ever contemplated. I instinctively said in my mind "that's not possible," and out of my mouth came this "It is possible." I had no idea where the words came from, but it was a rebuke from the Lord. As I drove home, I was involved in a battle. Fears and insecurities, fear of rejection all surrounded my mind. My root had been exposed. No matter how hard I had tried to cover up this exposed nerve, it had caused me pain and effected many areas of my life. Tonight was the night for my spiritual root canal. Driving home, the covering was ripped away and the nerve was exposed. I got home, went straight to the basement, trembling, turned the television of and told my dad that I had something to say and I did not want him to interrupt. I told him that as far as I was concerned, there was no past between us, only the present and the future and that I loved him so much. I wept, a forty year old man wept and hugged his dad like a child, my dad wept and told me that he loved me.

That was several months ago. A few weeks ago I got a call from my dad. We talked some small talk, and then he said this to me "You made a fantastic job of the tile work in the bathroom." Again, many of you may not understand the significance of this, but it rocked my world. It may be the sweetest words I have ever heard. If my father died tomorrow, I will know that he was proud of me. This was the thing that I had asked Pastor Dan to pray for me about.

Once a nerve is removed, it can never hurt you again. Let me ask you this, do you have a nerve problem? Do you need a spiritual root canal? Perhaps it has been buried for so long that you believe it is dealt with. The thing about decay is that it is a process, it will not stop of its own accord. If it is covered up it will begin to spread and effect other areas of your life. It needs to be uncovered and dealt with. If there is someone in your life who has hurt you, or disappointed you, if their is a root then the word tells us to "peruse peace," and not to "fall short of the grace of God." This root will "cause trouble," and "defile you." Open up your heart to Him. Ask Him to try you and see if their is anything that is causing you to fall short of the grace of God. The root of your trouble may be very legitimate, you may have been wronged and wounded. Do not wait on the other person. Maybe its a brother or a sister, Mother of Father, perhaps a grown child. Maybe its been years since you have spoken and the nerve has been covered up by distance and time. The time is now to brake the power of the damaged nerve, it must be removed, and until it is, it has the power to control you and cause you pain and cause you to fall short of Gods grace.
Make the call, reach out to that person. I understand the potential is there for great pain, for more suffering, but I also know that the power of God is at work when we trust in Him and follow His word.
We are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus. Even if ten thousand come against us, we will slay them all by the power and victory of Christ Jesus. That night I spoke to my father, I slew the enemies that had came against me, I reached the center of my heart and I took the enemies flag, uprooted it, broke it in two over my knee and threw it to the ground. I had, by the power of the Spirit, reclaimed this territory for the glory of God. May His marvelous name be praised. Brothers and sisters, take back that which is yours, break the power of the enemy in your life. And your weapon? ...............................LOVE.......Jesus is LOVE!!!!