Stepping out and risking...

I went to the dentist yesterday. I really don't like the dentist. I have spent more than my share of time in the dentist's chair. As a kid I had four baby teeth and four permanent teeth pulled before I could get into braces. After 3 years of those I had a retainer and then all four of my wisdom teeth removed. I have always gone for cleanings regularly, but that changed a couple of years ago. I know gross, right? Anyway, I broke a tooth and had to have my first crown about three years ago. It was awful. I felt like a big baby. I did not want to go back, rescheduled my next cleaning when the time came, and then cancelled it. Last Friday night while eating pizza of all things, something broke. I wasn't sure if I lost part of a filling or part of a tooth it was so far back. Come Monday I hesitantly called the dentist to schedule an appointment.
They saw me that afternoon and sure enough I had cracked a tooth and part of a filling adjacent. UGH! I took a deep breath, the dentist assured me they would make me comfortable, and the drilling began! Thankfully it was a much better experience than the first time. Then I really felt silly.
As I drove off I started thinking about how in life we are sometimes hurt and that hurt keeps us from opening up again. Instead we guard ourselves, afraid to risk getting hurt again even when new people and new circumstances present themselves. I talked about this a bit in my sermon Sunday. The hurts we suffer in life, of our own making or as the result of others can keep us down if we let them, but that is not what God intends. God intends to redeem all of creation, including our experiences. Because of what God has done in Jesus we have been set free. We no longer have to live in guilt and shame. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Those bad experiences can stay bad expereinces or we can use them to help others. We can turn our trash into treasure. There is a special kind of credibility that comes from someone who can come alongside someone else who is now in the midst of similar challenges or circumstances. But it doesn't even have to correlate. Whatever the battle, the scars, we can choose to persevere in God's strength instead of in guilt and shame, hiding in our cocoon.
It can feel risky, but the rewards are immeasurable! Don't let fear win. Fear is not from God but from the enemy of God!