Signora Sheila

Tomorrow is the big day. I go in for cataract surgery, which I’m not especially looking forward to. Regaining sight in that eye, sure I look forward to that. But the rest? I’m not especially keen on shots and incisions in my eyeball!

The right remedy.

Yet, I know it’s the right remedy.

I could have tried to fix the problem with stronger glasses, but they wouldn’t have stopped the eye from getting worse. And they could never help me see as well as surgery will.

So I know it’s the best thing to do. The right fix. The correct treatment. And I’m glad to be getting it done. Yet I dread the remedy. And we, or at least I, often do in that in other areas of life too.

The right solution

I know the right solution for many weak areas I battle. Like procrastination, laziness, selfishness, pride, fear, doubt. But I often dread actually applying the remedy.

Scripture addresses all of these problems, and more. And more often than not it boils down to rediscovering my identity in Christ, realigning myself with his thoughts and plans, reclaiming my first love, and learning to die to myself.

Which is not always easy. It’s usually not what I want or what I feel like doing – even if it’s for my own good and his glory.

The right remedy is not always what we want or what we feel like doing – but it’s always for our best – and helps us to grow into the person God wants us to be.

So I apply quick fixes, or push the issues to the back of my mind hoping they’ll go away. Except of course they don’t. They usually only grow worse.

So I’m asking the Lord to first give me the wisdom to honesty own up to these weaknesses I battle. And the courage it takes to face the remedies. To bravely swallow the pill, conquer the problem, and get on with growing.

Only by facing the uncomfortable aspects of surgery, (and yes, I know it’s quite a minor surgery), will my eyesight truly get better. And likewise, only by facing up to my personal deficiencies will I truly be able to overcome them. And become all that Christ wants me to be.

We probably all battle certain things in our lives. And run from the remedies, just because they’re a little too uncomfortable. Which, when you come right down to it, is pretty silly. Especially when we have the correct solution at our fingertips!

So no matter how hard, let’s learn to just swallow our pills, no matter how unpleasant. And then we can move on and forward – much happier, healthier, and better off!

📷 Image credits: Surgery by Павел Сорокин. | Pills by Jeshoots.com.