I was passing time picking weeds in the courtyard waiting for my friend to arrive when it happened. Of course I didn’t see the culprit on the green foliage before I grasped him with my bare hand. But my finger quickly let me know the error I had made. That devilish intruder might have been small but it managed to hurt a whole lot.
I thought I removed it, but in the week that followed I realized there must have been tiny little pricklers that still remained…as my skin grew more and more tender by the day. One small moment of poor judgment had become a taught spot I couldn’t bear to touch. It was time to get the cheaters, needle and tweezers out. Ugh.
My hubby came to my aid, and after about 15 minutes was successful at removing a few centimeters worth of the plant prickle that had evidently been buried in there for days. But my relief didn’t last. There must have still been more under there.
So I put antibiotic cream and a bandaid on it and hoped by morning it would be better.
Wishful thinking.
It seems part of this tiny little weapon was still embedded in my skin, and the pain was not any better. So now I’m faced with round 2 – tweezers, needle, cheaters – to try to finally get some relief!
How could something so small do so much damage?
As I sat looking at this tiny spot on my finger which is making it hard to use for just about anything because of the pain, I suddenly saw the spiritual truth behind the matter shining through:
It doesn’t take much of a bad thing to make a really huge mess and cause a lot of pain.
That might not be a very poetic way to put it, but we all know a little can go a long way. Especially in the area of sin.
So today, as I look at my festering finger, I am reminded that we need to use caution in our lives. So we don’t end up letting what was once a miniscule prickler become a huge thorn. Because I promise you, it will eventually hurt way more.
Where have you seen a little prickler that has the potential to become a giant thorn? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.