Splinters and Wounds

“Ouch!” Kate exclaimed out loud grabbing her forearm. “How many times have I told you not to climb that nasty old fence?” pointed out Kate’s mother who was trying to clean the wound on Kate’s arm in between having her daughter pull away.
“Would you stay still please?!” exclaimed Kate’s mom, but Kate didn’t think she could take her mother touching the sore spot one more time. “Okay mom that’s enough!” shrieked Kate exclaimed pulling away for the last time. “I don’t even have it all the way cleaned. I need to see it better than that, you need to let me see if there’s anything in there,” Kate’s mother objected. But Kate would have none of it. “It’s fine just leave it alone mom.” Kate’s mother threw up her hands. “Fine. You’re a big girl, but don’t come crying to me when it’s all infected.”
After a few days the wound healed up but the area still remained sore. She tried to put it out of her mind. After a week and a half the wound was still very sore. As Kate walked through the kitchen one day her mom stopped her surprised, “Your arm looks terrible. Does it still hurt?” Kate, reluctant to answer sheepishly replied, “I was hoping you wouldn’t see that.” “We need to get the Doctor to look at that,” her mother said picking up the phone.
Soon Kate was sitting in the doctor’s office. “That looks horribly painful, Dr. Harrison stated, What have you been doing to take care of it?” Doctor Harrison was well aware of Kate’s refusal to have her mom take care of the wound. He turned Kate’s arm over to see it. “It’s terribly infected Kate.” Dr. Harrison moved his face closer to the wound inspecting it thoroughly. “Kate, I think something’s in there.” He poked at the wound and Kate let out a yelp. “There sure is” said her mother looking over the family doctor’s shoulder. “We’re going to have to get that out of there.” said Dr. Harrison turning around to his cabinet. He began getting out some of the tools needed to take care of the wound. Then Kate saw a surgical knife. “What are you going to do with that!!” she said almost in a scream. “Well Kate, I’m going to have to cut that wound back open to get whatever’s in there out.” Kate was not happy with that at all. “Can’t you just leave it in there?” she objected. “Not if you want that to heal without your arm falling off first we can’t.” Kate knew the look in Dr. Harrison’s eye was serious.
As Dr. Harrison finished he carried a tray over to Kate’s mom. “That’s a pretty big chunk of that old fence that was in Kate’s arm.” He said holding the piece of wood with a pair of tweezers. Kate’s mother stared at her and said, “Next time you’ll listen to me won’t you?” Kate only nodded her head in embarrassment.


So many times in life we go through circumstances receiving wounds from people we love. Too many times we tend to brush off these wounds as not needing much attention or as being too painful to deal with. Maybe it is the splinters of anger or hurt? Maybe it is frustration, jealousy, or bitterness? Maybe it is resentment or some other splinter? When we leave these splinters in the wound that is created without properly dealing with them they leave us wounded. Then when we get “bumped into” by other circumstances or people the pain returns. Over time the “splinters” cause festering and infection until the pain is so great we begin to lash out because of our wounds. There are times in our lives where we need to “go to Dr. Harrison’s.” We need to, as painful as it is, get that splinter out of the wound so it can properly heal. Do you have this kind of wound? Have you had it properly taken care of? Jesus said in Matthew 5:23-24 and 18:15-17 that we need to deal with the problems between us. There are so many reasons for this. But first and foremost is the promotion of love that God desires. Are you nursing a wound with a splinter? Have you tried to reconcile it? Get help. You’ll be glad you did
- Jerry Graham (my hubbie)
Truth is we all have splinters. Maybe they are new and just need some quiet time and prayer to get them out? Or maybe they have been there for quite some time and will require a bit more attention before they can heal. Sometimes we don’t even realize we have a splinter until it gets bumped into by someone or something else. Whatever the case may be those splinters have to go. God’s word is filled with answers and healing ointment for these wounds. If you are struggling to find specific verses or have more questions please contact me. Another great source is a book entitled, Captivating, by John and Stasi Eldredge. Chapter six is particularly helpful!