Would You Like Some Valium This Instant!

Would You Like Some Valium?

It was a ridiculous question. WOULD I like some Valium?! Hello! I'm about to put my two—my only two now, my only two EVER—eyeballs under a laser beam (a patient-friendly term for what must really mean a knife) to be opened up, messed around with, and forever altered. WOULD I like some Valium? I'm sorry, doctor, but while you have your words right, you have them in the wrong order. It's more like: You WOULD like some Valium, Jodi. You really, really would.

I gave my obvious answer to her pointless question and, when I was brought the beautiful, heaven-sent, mind-easing pill, I saw that it was cut in half. "Huh?"

"You're so small, we don't you to O.D. So we're just going to give you a half." Fine. Whatever. I'll take what I can get.

An hour later (30 minutes for the precious half a Valium to kick in, plus 30 minutes for the procedure), I was done. My legally-blind eyes had been thoroughly lasered-up, worked on, and zapped to what I hoped would be PERFECT vision.

Less than twenty-four hours later, when I removed some of the most attractive goggles known to man (just wait till the fashion industry starts marketing these!), I found that I was indeed the recipient of a true miracle. I could see. Unaided. Just my natural eyeballs, looking 20/20 into a beautiful, intricate, laser-sharp world. Incredible.

What my eyes had just gone through isn’t much unlike the character pruning process that Jesus continually brings me through. Neither is fun. Both are uncomfortable. But both are endured for the sake of the result. And while there’s no denying when you’re in physical surgery, character surgery is much more subtle. (I'm lucky if I even catch on to the fact that it's happening.) And while physical surgery is MY choice, character refinement will always be HIS choice. While Valium will temporarily alter my mind, His Word will permanently soothe my soul. (Thankfully, He offers the WHOLE Bible—no downsizing for "small people" or a “small faith.”) Finally, while the outcome of physical surgery can only be HOPED for, the outcome of His work in me—Christlikeness—is absolutely guaranteed...every time.

How are you surviving the character pruning process that He is performing in you right now? Are you trying to numb the pain, or are you maximizing the honor of being under the Master Physician's always precise, always loving care?

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit." John 15: 1-2

"You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you." Isaiah 26:3