Are You Hurting?

And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.” – Luke 10:2-3.

“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” – Matthew 10:16.

“Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.” – Mark 16:15.

Hurting takes many forms and in actuality, the question, “are you hurting” is kind of a trick question. Maybe it would have been better if I had asked, “are you healthy?” At this point, you might even be asking yourself what any of this has to do with the scriptures listed above!

Indulge me for just a bit. How many of you have either had, or know someone who has had a problem with ingrown toenails? If you do, you know the pain and suffering that they had to put up with, as well as the pain of most treatments for it. To those of you who do not really know about this painful condition, let me take a moment to clue you in.

An ingrown toenail occurs when one (or both edges) of the toenail grows into the soft tissue causing painful inflammation. Infection frequently results from damaged tender skin from the corners of the nail. Ingrown toenails can be caused by injury to the toe, poor personal hygiene, trimming the nail improperly, or pressure on the nail from wearing tight or improperly fitted shoes. Now that is a clinical definition. If you can just imagine, the hard piercing edge of your nail, digging, cutting, puncturing its way into the soft edges of your toe. It has got to hurt!