pastorrudytlc

Don’t get me wrong!  I love Dr. Eric Thomas.  I think he is a great guy!  But I am not always in a hurry to see him because it usually means that I need some serious work on my teeth!  I have never been one who was able to brag about having no cavities.  Usually I am the one who keep the dentists in business!  And root canals have got to be the worst because they have to keep digging and going low below the surface to get to the main culprit of bacteria that is truly causing the problem!  That usually means extra anxiety for me because I breathe through my mouth and not my nose and all that drilling usually leads to the fear of a potential drowning for me in the chair!  But so far, so good and I have survived every appointment and actually can smile bigger and brighter because of it!

I understand that we all want to look good to one another and keep up the best of images that we possibly can!  In my line of work as a Minister, I often see people go a bit overboard in laying it on thick while they try to show off how self-righteous they are!  But I do know that God can see what even a trained human eye can miss!  I also know that God is not content to just have a surface relationship with us!  He too is looking to go deeper and to deal with the potential dangers that creep around within us that could sabotage our souls!  In a sense, we must allow God to also do a holy root canal in us if we ever long to have a genuine look of joy upon our faces!  And I have also learned through much experience with His touch that if I would just give Him my past, He assures for me a more meaningful present and an even more awesome future that I could never make happen on my own!

We can’t ignore the sin that wants to destroy us from within!  It doesn’t work anywhere we might look.  A few decades ago, several American companies authorized by the U.S. government attempted to bury toxic waste products underground. They filled large metal containers with chemical waste and other life-threatening products, sealed the drums tightly, and buried them deep down below the topsoil. They thought that was the end of it. Within a short time, however, many of the containers began to leak and the toxic waste started seeping to the surface, causing all sorts of problems. In some locations, it killed off the vegetation and ruined the water supply. People had to move out of their homes. In one section near Niagara Falls, known as the Love Canal, an inordinate number of people began dying of cancer and other debilitating diseases. Many communities are still suffering the effects of toxic-waste burials to this day.

You might ask, “What went wrong?” The answer is simply that those in charge tried to bury something that was too toxic. It couldn’t be contained. They thought they could cover it, and be rid of it once and for all. But they didn’t realize that the materials they were attempting to hide away were so powerful. They were way too toxic for the containers to hold. They never dreamed that one day these contaminants would resurface, and they would have to eliminate them all over again. But this time, the toxic materials would be dispersed, and much more difficult to deal with. Had they disposed of them properly in the first place, they wouldn’t have had this terrible problem.

It’s the same with us. When somebody hurts us, somebody does us wrong, instead of letting it go and trusting God to make it up to us, we bury it deep down on the inside. We attempt to cram an unforgiving spirit, resentment, anger, and other destructive reactions into our “leak-proof” containers. We seal those lids tightly. Then we put them aside and say, “Good. I’m not going to have to deal with that. I’m rid of it once and for all.”  But unfortunately, just as that toxic waste tends to resurface, one day the things you have stamped into your subconscious or buried deeply in the recesses of your heart will rise to the surface and begin to contaminate your life. We can’t live with poison inside of us and not expect it to eventually do us harm. Face it. You are not strong enough to contain the toxicity in your life. You need help from someone bigger and stronger than yourself. That’s why you need to give that bitterness, resentment, and other contaminants to God.  It is time to allow God to detoxify you fully and thoroughly!  Get in the chair and let him work his magic as he deals with the root issues!!!

Forgiveness is the key to being free from toxic bitterness. Forgive the people who hurt you.
Forgive the boss who did you wrong. Forgive the friend who betrayed you. Forgive the parent who mistreated you when you were younger.  Forgiveness doesn’t let that person off the hook; it gets them unhooked from you because you can’t bear the weight of carrying that poison around!   Get rid of all that poison today. Don’t let the root of bitterness grow deeper and continue to contaminate your life.  Let God do a holy root canal in you right now!