Yesterday I had all four of my wisdom teeth removed. I was dreading it because I have the type of imagination that envisions the pain-killers not working, over-sized pliers out of a rusty tool box, and a geyser of blood.
I wouldn't volunteer to go through it again but God and I had a great couple of hours. The procedure wasn't nearly as bad as my imagination had made it out to be.
During the procedure I had my iPod. I'd created a "worship" playlist that was nearly four hours long (just in case because I was imagining my butt would never leave that chair). While in the midst of a worship time with my King I made a correlation between my time in the chair and our sinful nature.
Despite knowing that what was being done to me should/would hurt I felt nothing more than some manuevering in my mouth. What I knew should bring pain and eventually would was nothing more than an irritant. As I lay there and the drill would come out I'd turn up my iPod and drown out the sound of the tool with worship songs. If things quieted down I'd turn it down a bit but remain deep in the presence of God.
Isn't that how life should be? If the procedure becomes the sin in our lives then don't we need to drown out its influence with the presence of God? Don't we overpower it with the grace of God and trust in Him to see us through?
Temptation seems to be at an all-time powerful these days. Everywhere we go we are bombarded with images, sounds, messages that aren't honoring to God. We need to turn down the influence of the enemy and immerse ourselves in God's presence. He's always waiting for us if we'd only turn up the volume and ignore the temptations surrounding us.
