The Long and Lonely Walk
One they call your name in the dentist's office, there's nothing to be done but to walk forward. You're met by a smiling and friendly person who walks you where the action's going to happen.
You walk by other offices with chairs. Some might be empty, and you ignore them. And then there are chairs that are being used. You can't help yourself. You stare at those poor souls and wonder what their x-rays show. What's being done to them. What sharp instruments are being poked into their mouth. What's being drilled.
No matter the distance, how many feet you actually travel, there's one truth staring you in the face.
It's a long and lonely walk.
No one can take you place. Only you and you alone can do it. It's something that you must do for yourself.
There might be lots of people that are willing to do things for us. Someone to pick out our groceries at the store and load them into our car. Someone to clean our house. Someone to drive us to the airport. Someone to carry our bags in the hotel. The list could go on and on.
But when it comes to going to the dentist, it's up to us. There's no substitute. No one can stand-in for us. No one can take our place. No one else can take that long and lonely walk for us. No one can walk back to the dentists chair for you. You and you alone have to do it.
It's a long and lonely walk.
You might have some idea of why you're there. It's usually something unexciting like getting your teeth cleaned. Taking some x-rays. Your annual checkup. But sometimes it's something scary; fill a cavity. Pull a tooth. Get a root canal.
Now it doesn't matter if you can't spell dentist, if you've got a PHD in dental sciences, or are the brother-in-law of the dentist. There's a couple of things that are always true.
Alone. We really don't know where they're taking us.
Unknown. We really don't know what they're going to find.
Powerless. We really don't know what they're going to do.
Sitting alone in a dentist's chair is bad enough. But when they walk out of the room for a minute, you can cut the loneliness with a knife.
If we're honest for a minute, those three words not only describe how we feel at the dentist's, but it's also how we think about life and ourselves.
We're Alone. No one's with us as we live out our life.
We're Unknown. No one really knows what's going on inside us.
We're Powerless. No one with any power is helping us. Protecting us.
No one can cure this loneliness except the one who made us. No one can repair the despair of our broken hearts. And to do all that and more, God came to earth and lived a life where he personally experienced.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.
Hebrews 4:15
If God has experienced everything we have, isn't he worthy of our trust?