One day, after doing some DIY, I discovered a splinter in each of my thumbs. At first they did not bother me. After all, five minutes with a needle, a little disinfectant, and the problem would be solved! In the evening, I began the procedure. But I was not able to pull the splinters out. I tried again the next day and the next but could not remove them. After these failures, I decided to go to the internet. Reading others’ experiences introduced me to many interesting ways to extract splinters, from honey to a banana peel. But none worked for me. On the third morning, when my thumbs began to swell and became very painful, I decided to see a doctor.

  

While I waited for an experienced nurse to rid me of the painful splinters, I prayed and pondered how deeply ingrained in human nature is the desire to do everything without asking for help. What’s worse, when it comes to spiritual pain, we sometimes get so tired of trying to get rid of certain ‘splinters’ on our own that we give up.

  

The truth is that we can’t improve our spiritual condition by our- selves. But when we overcome our arrogance and give our burdens to the Lord, we can find relief. Our pain will be resolved as we become closer to our creator.

Prayer: Physician of our souls, heal us from the splinters of sin so that we may be healthy in body, soul and spirit. In Jesus’ name. Amen