Faith teaches us that we have nothing to fear.
Yesterday, a little girl came into the school clinic. Her mouth was bleeding and she was a little panicked. Our nurse had stepped out, so I did a little triage. I asked her if she had lost a tooth and she said no. I gave her a cup of water to rinse her mouth out, so I could get a clearer look.
She rinsed and I took a look. There was a baby tooth that was the source of the bleeding. I asked her if it was loose and she told me that it started bleeding when she bit into an apple. All of the pieces fell together and I assured her that all was well, that her tooth was bleeding because it would soon come out and that she didn’t need to worry.
She looked like she wasn’t sure she believed me, but she took a tissue with her and went back to lunch.
It wasn’t long before she came back in grinning, with a tiny tooth in her hand. This time the nurse was in the clinic, but she stopped by my desk to show me. We talked about the tooth fairy coming to visit. She got a bag from the nurse to keep it in and she was on her way, much happier than she had been when she came in the first time.
I thought about that little girl on my drive home. I thought about how she panicked when she saw blood and how she wasn’t so sure that I knew what I was talking about. How could something bad like blood in her mouth, mean something good was about to happen?
Sure, I knew what was coming, because I’m older and I’ve been there, but how often have I panicked myself, when something was different than I thought it should be?
Things that we consider bad, happen to us all of the time, the job we didn’t get, that we wanted so badly, the relationship that didn’t work, even thought we gave it all we had, that no, that we wanted so desperately to be a yes, can all seem devastating at the time.
Yet, the passage of time, coupled with age, allows us to look back and more often than not, see all those “bad,” things were actually good and led us to a better place, or a better situation, or even better people.
The longer we walk with God, the more we come to realize there’s always a plan and that He’s always in control. There’s a peace that comes from knowing and believing that since He’s got it, we simply don’t need to worry about what comes next.
We’re really no different than the little girl and her tooth. We don’t have to panic because something good is in the works. We call that faith.
Sometimes I need reminding. Perhaps you do too.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂