A visit to the dentist is not high on my list of what I want to do in a day. In fact, I get especially morbid and selfish by requesting the Lord take me home or rapture the Church NOW, so I don’t have to deal with the trauma of it all. Problem teeth, along with insensitive dentists, assistants, and hygienists have been a way of life for many, many years. My merciless dentist story previously highlighted shared of reckless attempts to numb my mouth, producing tears rolling down my face, which the dentist found amusing and began laughing to his assistant. Memories like that besides all 4 wisdom teeth pulled (no laughing gas and not put to sleep), then onto my royal crowns (about 8 of those), an abscess, a root canal, and fillings besides, have all contributed to my desire to find a caring dentist from Alabama, Louisiana, Indiana, Kansas, Tennessee/Georgia, and North Carolina, in some states visiting multiple ones. The goal was to find one who would treat me as if he or she liked me! Unfortunately, most seemed to be having a bad day!

As I was driving to my appointment this morning with my music cranked up, I sang at the top of my lungs with Matt Maher, “Lord, I Need You.”

Lord I come, I confess…Without You, I fall apart…Lord, I need You, oh, I need You
Every hour, I need You, My one defense, my righteousness, Oh God, how I need You…So teach my song to rise to You, When temptation comes my way, And when I cannot stand, I’ll fall on You, Jesus, You’re my hope and stay! LORD, I NEED YOU!

Worship always realigns my thinking and gives me added strength for any task. But I believe the Lord gave me something even more through a post by Vaneetha Rendall Risner. It changed my outlook for suffering of any kind, including the big, bad dentist chair. The following is an excerpt:

God demonstrates His wisdom to the powers and principalities in the heavenly realms as they observe the church—you and me. I believe we bear witness to the greatness of God and the power of the gospel by our lives and testimony, including our response to suffering. The spirit world is looking on when we hold our tongues when we’re tempted to speak unkindly. When we are racked with pain, alone, and choose to praise God anyway. When we face a demanding boss, challenging children, or a callous husband and trust God to give us the strength we need…As we endure all these things, we show the surpassing value of Christ to the unseen, watching world.

This morning, I went to my very first dental appointment on a mission to serve Christ! It was not all about me and what I would have to experience/endure. I am so thankful we are never too old to learn what our Heavenly Father wants to teach us and WHY He leaves us on this earth. It brought such joy to my heart that God desired to teach me something which would draw me closer to Him and make me more fit for the Kingdom.

Let me tell you what else He did! Even though I had to go through the crowning process, I was treated royally from the receptionist to the dental assistant and even to the very kindhearted dentist. And of course, more pain comes when you hear the amount due. But I did not even care because I knew God, my gracious heavenly Father, was teaching me to trust Him in every circumstance of this life; because nothing is ever out of His control, nothing is ever without a reason!

“Commit everything you do to the LORD. Trust him, and he will help you” (Psalm 37:5, NLT).