Splinter

While in seminary we lived in an old house that needed constant work. While doing that work one day I got a splinter in my finger. It was a nice hard oak splinter from the oak floors. I thought that I got the entire splinter out, yet whenever I bumped my finger I still had pain. It was an indication that something was still below the surface, yet I could not find it. One afternoon I pressed on the wound and still felt pain and tightness just below the skin. So, I then applied more pressure, and with a sudden burst out came the splinter, along with some other stuff. For that very short moment while I applied the pressure it also hurt, then if felt much better. The healing process then took place.
The wood not being a true portion of my body was being rejected, causing pain and festering. The splinter reminds me of being wounded by another person. The splinter from the tree can become a bitter root planted under our skin. Some splinters run deeper than others. A little bump or some pressure on the wound makes us again feel the pain. Hebrews 12:15 tells us, “See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.” The removal of the splinter from the wound will cause pain, yet it is necessary for healing. The splinter must come out. In my unwillingness to face the pain of removing the splinter in the first place, I allowed the splinter to remain and fester, but my body would not allow the splinter to remain. My body reminded me at ever bump.
Are the bumps and pressures of life making you experience again an old pain? Is there a broken splinter just below the surface? Remember the pain of removing the splinter is often needed before healing can take place.
Wood workers know that splinters are inevitable. They also know that everyone gets them and they need to be removed and there is no shame in that. In life people inflict wounds on one another. If you need to have a bitter root removed there is no shame in that, other than in not removing it. We gather as small groups to help expose buried splinters and remove them.