Hebrews 4:12 in the Message version says ‘His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defence, laying us open to listen and obey. Nothing and no one is impervious to God’s Word. We can’t get away from it—no matter what.’
I’ve only ever undergone surgery once: my son was born by Caesarean section because he was breech. With the arrival of anaesthetics, it is easy to regard surgery as relatively minor these days, but in actual fact, any breach of the layers of the skin is painful and a surgeon’s scalpel is razor sharp in order to cut through those layers. When the anaesthetic wears off, the pain is very evident! Any sword wound, any surgery, is painful. Sometimes the pain is excruciating, leaving us gasping, unable to think of anything else. For the first couple of days after surgery, I virtually counted the hours to the next dose of painkillers and found it all too easy to understand how war veterans had become addicted to morphine after the horrors of losing limbs.
God loves us too much to leave us in our sin and hard-heartedness, however. He speaks to us gently and tenderly, pricking our consciences and wooing us (Is 40:2), urging us not to harden our hearts (see Heb 3:7-9). If we do not respond to those pinpricks, however, He has to use more drastic measures. Let’s remember, though, that a surgeon uses the scalpel not to wound – though that is what happens in the short-term – but to heal. Surgery is necessary to cure something which if left would cause us even more problems. God knows that hard heartedness leads to sin and rebellion and ultimately to a rupturing of our relationship with Him, just as an inflamed appendix, if left untended, will rupture and poison our whole system, or a cancerous tumour, if left untended, will continue to grow and shut down vital organs necessary for life. God’s Word may cut us, piercing our doubt and defences, highlighting our sinful attitudes and our lack of trust, but it is also the means by which we are healed. Job 5:18 says ‘For he wounds, but he also binds up; he injures, but his hands also heal.’ We may fear surgery, but it is better than the alternative!