Fall Into The Gap
Gap-toothed and buck-teethed. That was me growing up. And not in a Lauren Hutton-beauty sort of way. But rather a close-your-mouth-when-you-smile sort of way. (Well that’s what my brothers usually said.) Thank heaven some smart dentist-come-orthodontist invented braces.
However before I could get the braces I needed some work so the braces could fit. I had to have 6 teeth pulled. Six! All at once. I didn’t even know I had that many to pull. I was probably twelve at the time and had never given my mouth much thought but the thought now of losing six teeth in one sitting was rather daunting.
That was just the beginning. The real work was to close the gap between my two front teeth. For that to happen required more than just pulling teeth and installing braces. The muscle between my front teeth needed to be removed. Let me stop right here and say I am a rather svelte gal. I don’t have much in the way of muscles. However, it appears I was blessed with only one oversized muscle in my whole body and God put it right between my two front teeth. Just my luck.
I won’t bore you with details of the procedure – but the laughing gas is always the best part of any dental office trip. Mother picked me up when it was all said and done and took me home. Now all I would have to do before getting the braces to straighten my teeth was recover from the teeth pulling and muscle removing – and my well meaning Mother.
It seems the dentist failed to mention to Mother that stitches had been sown into my gums and roof of my mouth. And I certainly didn’t know, I was still numb. Mom not realizing this and seeing something hanging from my numb lip tried to remove it. I’m not sure which of us turned whiter and more faint when we realized what she had pulled.
With that little obstacle overcome my gap was gone and in a matter of a few years when the braces too were gone I would have a regular, presentable smile. Ahh, the things we go through to avoid unsightly gaps.
Gaps. We call them ugly. We close them. We fill them in. We build bridges over them. As we age we fill the ones we find on our faces. In England we are told to “mind the gap” when getting on or off the underground to avoid getting hurt. We find them between ourselves and others after disagreements or long periods of time apart. Besides the Grand Canyon I've rarely come across one I was happy to find.
I'm not sure it needs to be that way.
We don’t have to be afraid of gaps. In fact, I think falling into them is the reason they are put in our way. We have a Safety Net that is always in each and every gap we come to. We have a Protector who is taking care of us as we fall or try to ford the gap. We are to do whatever is called for by the particular gap we face and Jesus will fill in the gap by doing what we cannot do. Together we get to the other side.
That is exactly what God told Moses. God commanded Moses to go to Egypt and talk to the king to allow the children of Israel out of Egypt and in return the Lord will give the people of Egypt favor. (Ex. 3:10) Moses was worried. He knew there was no way the king of Egypt was going to listen to him and let the Israelites go. Pharaoh was not going to believe that Moses had talked to the Lord and told Moses to go on this journey and even if He had, Moses knew there was no way the king was going to listen to him. (Ex. 4:1)
Moses had a problem. He was standing at a gap. He was given a task, but one he didn't have the tools or skills to complete. Failure was more than a real possibility if he attempted it on his own. Luckily, Moses didn't go it on his own. He knew not to ford the gap - to approach Pharaoh - on his own. Moses was honest, he put his pride down, he told God he was not an eloquent man, he was slow of speech, he was going to need help figuring out what to say. Could the Lord offer him some assistance? (Ex. 4:10)
That's when God did for Moses what He does for all of us and filled Moses' gap - God told Moses, "Who made man's mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord? Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what to say." (Ex.4:11-12).
No one has to walk this earth alone. Some choose to but no one has to. It can be treacherous from time to time and there will be gaps along the way. Some small, some cavernous. I for one, sometimes forget to look where I am going so gaps can be a real problem for me. I’m glad I have Someone to “mind the gap” for me. And I take a lesson from Moses, to let go of my pride and ask for assistance when approaching a gap. But when I do what I can and let God do what He can, that grand canyon sized problem ain't nothin but a crack in the sidewalk.
And that gives me something to really smile about – gap-toothed and all.
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