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A post I've been building on for a while now, and it actually goes with my last one quite well ~
I don’t often get splinters, but in the past couple of months, I’ve had three, and they got me thinking …
I had one pesky little splinter in my middle finger for
several weeks. It started out when
I noticed that the tip of the finger was a little sore, but couldn’t tell
why. Then, as I pressed down on
it, I realized that a miniscule splinter had somehow embedded itself deep
beneath the skin. I mentioned
trying to dig it out to a friend, but that never happened. It didn’t hurt that bad, and it wasn’t
irritated so I just let it be. As
the weeks went on, the splinter gradually worked its way to the surface. It got to where I could see it without
having to press down, and then I could feel it when running another finger
across the surface, and then a tiny blister formed as the splinter worked to
push its way out from beneath that last layer of skin. Finally, it popped all the way through
and was gone without me even realizing.
Next, I got one on the palm of my right hand, just below my
pointer finger. It was actually
just an inch below one I got a long time ago that I never removed and has been
incorporated into my skin, and it seems the new one is destined to go the way
of the first. It started out at
the surface, but did not bother me at all. I would not have even known it was there had it not been
visible. I picked at it a little
and it could have easily been removed with some help, but was in a difficult
spot to get by myself. Honestly, I
forget about it unless I happen to see it. Now it is being absorbed into my skin like the first,
fading, dissipating, but still very much there. It would take a lot of work to get it out at this
point. Even more so for the
first. Would it even be worth it?
Then I got one on the middle knuckle of my middle finger on
my right hand. Again, it didn’t
hurt or even bother me, but it was much more prominent. I picked at it much more than the
previous ones, and without much time or effort, it popped right out. The little hole it left in my skin will
heal quickly, leaving only the memory.
Of course, we can’t forget the other kind. The big honkin’ ones that digs
themselves deep within your skin and refuse to be ignored for any significant
amount of time. If left alone,
they get red and irritated. Your
body knows that it has been infiltrated by a foreign object and fights with all
its defenses to get it out. These
must be removed. It is often a
painful process, and the area remains quite sore for a time afterward, but it
is necessary for the health of your body.
I love the way God gives us pictures of how He desires to
work in our lives, but I think I’ll leave it at that for today and give you
some time to ponder as I’ve had time to ponder for myself.
