Warts

Have you ever had a wart? It is a raised rough spot. Most people tend to “pick” at anything abnormal. This can go on for months before you even realize it is not only there, it has grown.

How did it get started?

What started it?

When did you first notice it?

When you think about it the whole thing it is kind of crazy. What does it take to get rid of a wart? A trip to the local drugstore to pick up wart remover? Another option is a 10 minute appointment with a doctor who will spray something on it. In either case the wart will dissolve and fall off within a week or two. Why do we put those types of things? What causes the delay? Do we think it will just go away on its own? Getting rid of a wart is such a simple thing. Why let the irritation continue?

Have you ever had a bad habit or a thought pattern you did not break? A negative opinion someone planted about you? Maybe you thought it was too hard (or impossible) to get rid of…maybe you convinced yourself that it wasn't really a problem, or you can do what you want…but still it is there. Slightly raised. Somewhat rough. An irritant. Not how you were created to be. No idea how it got started but it is there and it is an irritant. Your mind touches it over and over—the same way your finger runs over a wart. How do you deal with these things?

You can continue to ignore it. You can do so many of the things people try to make things better, therapy, medication, self-help, books, telling everyone who will listen, getting opinions, going to a focus group. Or, you can just go to the Lord and let him take care of it. He can change a thought pattern. Deliver a bad habit into ineffectiveness. He can heal the hurts planted by someone else. Pretty simple. There are no recriminations in the throne room. No condemnation.

It is hard to love yourself. Most people don’t. They think it is too hard to deal with all the warts so they cope. They medicate. They ignore. But eventually you will have to deal. Either here before God or there before God.

The choice is yours.