sting rays

having an 8 yr old son in the family, we have been avid fans of "The Crocodile Hunter" for the past few years. steve irwin made a name for himself catching and relocating crocs down under where he lived. josiah loved his show, esp when steve was feeding the crocodiles fresh meat and the snapping jaws of a croc would just miss steve's leg or arm.

so it was with much sadness that we learned of steve's untimely death last weekend, having been stung by a stingray in the chest as he and his camera man were shooting another special. as the tale unfolded, it seemed that steve had been swimming above the stingray which had then flipped over and whipped its stinger into steve's chest. steve instinctively pulled the stinger out of his chest thus creating a gaping hole and losing massive amounts of blood before losing consciousness. he died before help could fly him to a hospital.

i overheard two women talking about the incident and one mentioned that if steve had not have pulled the stinger out he may have lived. one never knows, but doctors advise that if you have something lodged in your chest area, your head or around your mouth that you get a doctor to take care of it instead of trying to take it out yourself.

i thot of the many times i have been wounded, not physically, but emotionally and spiritually. my first instinct is to pull the stinger out and throw it back at the person who has hurt me. but i only end up a bloody mess when i do that. it seems to hurt twice as much, and then i have to watch out for more falling stingers aimed at me from the one i just threw one at. i'm slowly learning that it is better to take my wound to the Lord and allow Him to pull out the stinger and heal the wound. it seems to hurt less that way .... and the stinging arrows stop flying towards me. going to the Lord and having Him pull out the stinger allows forgiveness and restoration to be given and received between me and the other party....

either way the barb hurts, but if i take it to the Lord He has wonderful ointment that soothes the pain and heals the open wound. He comforts and consoles me as i give Him all my pain. He is after all, the Great Physician.