On to the Chopping Block (aka the Surgical Table)

So, it's official...I am going to have surgery to remove my gallbladder...oh boy. :/

The funny thing about this whole situation is I haven't had any pain or discomfort for almost a week...go figure. However, just because I can't feel that there's a problem, doesn't mean it doesn't exist and won't affect my life.

Hmm...it kind of sounds like our lives sometimes. We can't see the crap and garbage that people have inside, all we see is the outside and what they want us to see. This might work for a while and you might be able to keep the garbage hidden for a while, but that doesn't mean that it won't affect your life at some point. In order to clean out the garbage, you need to have it removed and the only One that can do that is the Great Physician, Jesus Christ.

I know that He's taken care of a lot of my crap and garbage and I'm sure there's more for Him to help me get rid of...it's not an easy process or a short one. I do know that I need to stop holding on to the things that He's already taken care of and let them go. No one would want to hold on to the disease or problem that is making them physically ill, so why do we continue to hold on to those things that make us spiritually ill?

At Church without Walls, Bob Cornwall spoke about God's forgiveness and how we need to stop asking Him over and over again to forgive us for the things that He's already forgiven us for and forgotten about. How many times do we look in our past and bring up those things that we've already been forgiven for? Why do we continually make our lives miserable by bringing those things up? Once we've asked God to forgive us and we're truly repentant, He takes those things, forgives us and then forgets.

Funny thing with us humans is, we tend to hold onto things and we don't like to let things go. Sometimes that's a good thing...holding onto things that are important (family, friends), should be things we don't want to let go. Holding onto other things (grudges, hurtful conversations, wrongs), those should be things we give up to God and let Him take care of them. If we hold onto those hurtful things, it only hurts us more. 

I'm not saying that there aren't things that we should remember, like trusting someone and having them destroy your trust...obviously something like that will cause you to think harder about the people you trust and maybe that's a good thing. I know for myself, that has been something I've struggled with in my friendships in the past and it hasn't always been the easiest thing. I think that I have come to that point in my life where I know I have a great group of friends that I would trust with my life. I just hope that I am the kind of friend that they could say the same thing about.

So, as I go into surgery this Friday at 10a, I'm praying that everything goes well and that there are no complications. I am a little nervous, but I feel confident in my surgeon because I know that he is being used by the Great Physician and he's prayed for His strength for the surgery. It's definitely a very cool thing to be prayed for by your surgeon and to know that he is being used by God; I am definitely blessed.