BY SUSAN YOUNG
Our Father’s House
My husband recently had surgery on his hand. He has taken up bow hunting over the past several years, and in an attempt to save a five-dollar arrow after it got stuck in a target at practice, he got carbon fiber embedded in the palm of his hand.
When I found him with tweezers trying to take the carbon fiber out of his hand and not seeming to be getting it all, I suggested he get to his doctor to see if he could get it out. He dismissed my concern with a simple sentence. “It’s a small thing, it will come to nothing and work itself out.”
Only the carbon fiber didn’t cooperate with the plan. Instead, it embedded further into his palm so much that when he lifted something, it would poke him internally and remind him that it was still there. Stubborn as he sometimes can be, five years went by with this “minor annoyance.”
The body began to protect itself against this foreign object intrusion, and little lumps appeared on his palm, which grew in size. Finally, he made his doctor’s appointment when it affected his range of motion.
He was referred to a hand specialist who ordered an MRI. The MRI showed that the carbon fiber was no longer on the surface, requiring surgery to remove it. Did I mention that our deductible annually is 10k? Yes, this small thing was going to cost quite a bit.
“Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom,” Song of Solomon 2:15.
Although this scripture is about the little things that can ruin a relationship, it can also pertain to the little things that turn into big things if we’re not actively paying attention and dealing with the details while they are small.
I wonder how many of us have little things that need our attention, yet we postpone, procrastinate and ignore them in hopes they go away. Sometimes we’re blessed, and they work out; other times, they don’t and become like mountains in our lives.
What are you dealing with that you think will work itself out? Is the problem you are facing now the same one you talked about last year? Do you still want to be talking about it and dealing with it next year?
These choices are ours to make. It can be difficult to discern, as you don’t want to spend your life majoring in the minors if you will, but with prayer and wise counsel, I pray that those little foxes are caught before they steal your vineyard.
By the way, my husband is on the mend. He’ll have a nice scar as a reminder to tackle those little things before they become big, and he used his bandaged hand for a sermon illustration. Beloved, I pray it doesn’t take all that for you. What are you putting off dealing with in your life? How much longer will you wait to take care of it?
