Read Proverbs 3:5–6

Years ago, I got a big laugh out of Stephen Erickson’s article “How to Choose a Dentist”:

Never trust a dentist
...who wears dentures
...who has hairy knuckles
...whose drill is driven by a system of pulleys connected to three mice on a treadmill
...who sends you a Christmas card and charges you for it
...who uses the suction hose to empty your pockets
...who is also a barber
...who sprays his equipment with Lysol to sterilize it

You can always trust a dentist
...who has never chewed gum
...who looks like Jack Nicholson
...who doesn’t ask you questions when your mouth’s full
...who puts you to sleep two weeks before your appointment
...who uses a laser instead of a drill
...who has mellow rock piped into his office instead of elevator music

Fear makes us dread getting strapped into the dental hot seat. Such trauma calls for an antidote that’s equally powerful: trust. Consider the calming words of Solomon:

Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. (Proverbs 3:5–6)

Trust calms the effects of trauma. It’s as simple as that. What is true in the dentist’s office is also true in everyday life...especially in times of trouble. We must learn to abandon ourselves to Someone who is trustworthy.¹

Devotional content taken from Good Morning, Lord...Can We Talk? by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 2018. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale House Ministries. All rights reserved.

The full devotional can be purchased at https://www.tyndale.com/p/good-morning-lord-can-we-talk/9781414380681.

1. Adapted from Come before Winter and Share My Hope, Copyright © 1985, 1994 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission. “How to Choose a Dentist” by Stephen Erickson first appeared in Campus Life magazine. Used by permission of Christianity Today International.