Luke 9:10 …Jesus graciously welcomed them and talked to them about the kingdom of God, and those who needed healing, He healed.  (The Message Bible)

      Eben (my three year old) had a bump on his finger that looked like staph infection.  The doctor put him on medicine and two weeks later he still had the bump and the little brown spot.  But the brown spot had changed and now was starting to come to the surface.  It was a splinter!  I realized this at bedtime a few nights ago and proceeded to tell him that mom was going to get it out.  He screamed and cried.  He screamed continually as I barely touched it with the needle and pulled it out with tweezers.  But after a few minutes it was out!  He dried his eyes immediately examining the splinter and said in his three years old way, “That’s it, that was all, well that didn’t hurt very much. “  I laughed.  A few days before, my older son, Owin, had a friend over, who got a splinter and he wanted me to remove it (immediately).  He didn’t cry, even though he was a little nervous, he asked a few questions as I cleaned and prepared the needle by burning it.  He examined my work closely while I removed it , but he seemed to know that my removing the splinter would be much less painful than keeping the splinter in his hand.  He even thanked me for removing it.  My mom stepped on a splinter that lodged itself deep into her foot, pieces of the splinter came out over the next year.  She walked with a limp and was in constant pain because of these little pieces of wood in her foot.  I am sure that you have a story about getting a splinter or maybe even a piece of glass stuck in your foot or hand?  You remember how much discomfort it caused.  Did someone help you remove it?

      Splinters- I have been thinking a great deal about splinters in regards to my stubbornness. Recently a client told me that she could not give her pain to God because she was afraid.  I asked her what she was afraid of and she replied, “ I don’t know.”  Splinters we all have them: fear, guilt, anxiety, depression, anger, past pain, short tempers, insecurities, addictions, perfectionism… Usually, we can see them and people we love almost always can see them.  Even though they cause a great deal of infection and pain in our life, at some point, we get used to them.  We become numb to the pain that they cause and we learn to accept the splinter.

      Keeping the splinter causes much more pain than removing it.  Yet the fear of the removal process often lets us get comfortable with the splinter.  In our life, we become accustomed with our struggle and we may even get comfortable with our anger, our fear or our past pain.  It feels more comfortable to keep the struggle than to even imagine the removal process.  We may even forget it is there to avoid removing it.  But then the infection starts to set in- relationships are affected by our hurt or addiction and then it is more difficult to ignore the “splinter.”  Then the splinter does the most amazing thing- it comes to the surface.

      Once I had a splinter come to the surface all by itself.  I could not get it out so I waited.  A few days later the infection and the splinter came to the surface and I pulled the splinter out and cleaned the infection.  Splinters do come out.  Recently I had someone tell me that their pain does not affect anyone else, but they live angry and that anger effects their children.  Someone else told me their anxiety does not hurt anyone, but it steals their ability to connect on a real level in relationships.  Someone else told me that their addiction does not hurt anyone, but the effects of this addiction steal life from their family.  Those splinters come out - they can’t remain buried inside of us.  The infection leaks on those we love, for splinters cannot be hidden.

      For many life seems fine until the splinter surfaces and starts to come out.  But in reality, life has not been fine for a time and they have been uncomfortable with the pain.  But facing the pain felt scarier than keeping it buried.  But pain comes to the surface with all of its memories just like infection comes to the surface with the splinter.  Most people realize that facing their “splinter” would have been a lot easier than letting it come to the surface by itself.  I would like to take it a step further and say, giving it to Jesus would have been a lot easier than keeping it inside.

      For at the foot of the cross is where we can lay our splinters that is a safe place to unpack the anger from the hurt, or the anxiety of perfection, or the memories of pain, or the depression of loss, or the sadness of loneliness, or the fear of tomorrow, or the lost trust of rejection, or the memories, or the bitterness from lost expectations, or the dreams that never materialized... 

      The cross was full of splinters and Jesus remained there to bear our “splinters,” burdens, our sins, our shameful secrets.  On the cross He beat death so that He could give us His resurrection power to defeat life’s pain and havoc it brings.  I have to believe on the cross that Jesus was willing to take on all our splinters so that we would not have to bear them -ever. “So if the Son sets you free, then you will be free indeed.” (NIV John 8:36) Yes He offers us complete freedom, but we must choose to accept the gift giving Him our “splinters” regardless of their size. 

      What is your splinter?  Have you identified it?  You must give Him your splinter and ask Him to remove it.  There may be many splinters in your life that you would like Him to remove.  If you have had the same splinter for a long time, it might take daily asking Him to remove the splinter and surrendering it to Him.  Just like it took a year for all of the pieces of my mother’s splinter to surface and be removed.  He is the gentle healer and His touch is so tender, His removal of your splinter will be much less painful than trying to ignore the pain.  Will you give Him your splinters today?

Answer-

What are the splinters in my life that I need help removing?

Am I afraid to tell God about my splinters? (He already sees them.)

Am I afraid to ask Him to remove them?  Why?

What about God’s character keeps me from trusting Him with my pain?  Is my belief about God true?

Prayer-
Lord,
I give you the splinters of __________________________________________________________ in my life.  I don’t know how to get them out, please take them out tenderly for me.  As you remove my ______________________________________________________________________ please remove the infection and pain that this has caused.  I ask you to fill the place where this “splinter” of ________

__________________________________________________________________________ was with the healing power of the Holy Spirit.  Please take the struggles that surround this __________________ out of my life.  Thank you for Your powerful healing love.  In the mighty name of Jesus Christ