Like Pulling Teeth

I thought I knew what the phrase "like pulling teeth" meant. Simple! It's something that is extremely difficult, or frustrating. For example, "Trying to get a straight answer from [insert the name of your favorite politician] is like pulling teeth."

Earlier this summer I learned just how difficult pulling teeth can really be.

My first rotation in Wichita for the International Family Medicine Fellowship was in dentistry. Now, I have to admit, I came into this rotation with some experience. Which basically consisted entirely of wiggling those little baby teeth I had until they fell out. So in August I jumped into the big leagues. I had to learn how to take some pretty mean-looking tools and somehow get a diseased tooth to come out of this person's mouth. Here is a picture of one of the instruments I used most frequently: the straight elevator. You could practically do almost any extraction with this one tool if you had to.

You can tell by the small size of the blade and the extremely large handle, you can put a lot of torque on this if you need to. If you just squeeze it right between -- well, I'll spare you the details. I know some would be interested, but I'm doing a favor to all of you that wouldn't. You may be rubbing your jaw a little sympathetically right this moment.

The funny thing is, most patients were more scared of the anesthetic than they were of the elevators and forceps. Needles just generally make people uncomfortable.

At first I wasn't sure who was more nervous, the patients or me! I was unsure of the proper angle, I was scared I was going to break off a tooth, or just pull the wrong one! But the dentists I worked with did a great job of teaching me. And I learned a valuable lesson that month after pulling close to a hundred teeth:

Dental extractions were only "like pulling teeth" when I felt so uncomfortable doing it.

Once I learned what to do, I found that I really enjoyed it! It is actually a very gratifying experience. You've helped improve this person's life by removing something painful from their body. Patients were very appreciative, happy to be rid of these problem teeth.

This made me wonder about how long some of them had been dealing with these bad teeth. It was obvious some of the problems were acute, and some patients had issues just getting in to be seen. But some of these patients had hung on to these teeth for years too long. Why did they live with this painful problem for so long? And why was today finally the day they decided to get it fixed?

While I pondered this, I was reminded of an encounter Moses had with Pharaoh. It was right after one of the plagues had struck Egypt. The plague of frogs. Frogs were lying around all over the place, stinky, smelly, loud. They were everywhere! In everything! All over the palace, around his family, in his food, in his bedroom, even on his body. Can you imagine!? So what did Pharoah do? Let's look briefly:

Exodus 8:8 Pharaoh called in Moses and Aaron and said, "Pray to God to rid us of these frogs."

9 Moses said to Pharaoh, "Certainly. Set the time. When do you want the frogs out of here, away from your servants and people and out of your houses?"

10 "Make it tomorrow."

Tomorrow???

What?? Why not now? You've got frogs all over the place, and you want to keep them around for one more day? Now generally when I think about these stories, I usually find myself relating to Moses more than Pharaoh. But here is a spot where I can put myself in his shoes.

We may have a problem in our life, a 'plague' of sorts, that we're dealing with. We may know the right thing to do. God may even present us with a way out. But for some reason we tell him, "Tomorrow."

I think I'll hang on to this issue for one more day. I think I'd rather have this problem that I hate, that I'm covered in, that is stinking up my life, affecting my family, my health, than go through what it would take to get rid of it.

Because getting rid of it may not be easy. It may come with some pain. It may be like those needles at the dentist's office. We know they are there to help us, to take away the pain, but we're still a little afraid.

But God wants me to be free of that problem. It may hurt. It may feel like pulling teeth. But God, the Great Dentist, can get his straight elevator in there and extract that abscessed tooth from my spiritual mouth.

...Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Hebrews 12:1