Re-Creating God

I'm in constant danger of re-creating God according to my own image. A milquetoast deity fits the bill. When it comes to how God looks at me, I want Mister Rogers, not William Wallace (Braveheart); soft when it comes to my shortcomings, understanding when it comes to my errors, and tender when it comes to my failure. The last thing I want is a standard bearer, a strong and demanding Warrior Captain, a relentless Coach that will not settle for anything less than that for which I was created. I may be hard on myself, but God should take it easy on me.

There's only one problem with this whole business--the Omnipotent One refuses to fit into molds of my own making. Our God is a God of grace, but his mercy is always in juxtaposition to relentless expectation. Remove the word "settle" from your Christian vocabulary--God grants unending grace, but he never settles for anything less than his plan for our lives. 

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:8-10, KJV)

Wisdom Teeth

St. Paul might have considered using wisdom teeth in his metaphor comparing body parts to church members, but knew it wouldn't have been true: 

"The eye cannot say to the hand, 'I don’t need you!' And the head cannot say to the wisdom teeth, 'I don’t need you!' On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable" (1 Corinthians 12:21-22).  

He couldn't write that because wisdom teeth are most definitely dispensable. You can tell from my rather odd choice of subject matter that I've had a run-in recently along these lines. I had a wisdom tooth extracted this week and the moment it was forced to loosen its hold and relinquish its spot, I felt relief. It will take some time for the canyon to fill, but I'd rather deal with an empty crater than an angry intruder. Wisdom teeth, or third molars, inherited their name because they are the last teeth in the mouth to develop and "erupt." That's a dental/medical term that is definitely apropos in this case. Mine felt like a burgeoning volcano about to erupt.

Before I lose your interest entirely (assuming you're still reading), there is a lesson from the extraction worth sharing. I lived with the intermittent discomfort and pain from the tooth for a number of years and would have continued tolerating it if the misery hadn't become constant and edged toward a crescendo. I considered it a nuisance, an aggravation if you will, and had no idea how good it would feel if it was removed. In my case, the relief was instantaneous, and I keep asking myself why I waited so long to bite the bullet (or gauze) and be done with the pain. Strange as it may sound, as I sat tilted back with gauze  in the place where my painful tooth had been moments before, I instantly began to ask how many faults I tolerate in myself? What self-inflicted aggravations do I live with? What seemingly small things do I allow to keep me slightly off course for now and threaten to cause me to miss the mark in the end? Better to learn a lesson from wisdom teeth and deal swiftly with anything and everything that I tolerate but doesn't belong. The sudden relief may surprise you.

"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." (Hebrews 12:1, KJV)