The Holy Spirit Is To Our Souls What Invisalign Is To Our Teeth

I used to have naturally, perfectly aligned teeth.  More than one dentist I visited assumed I once wore braces.  I never did. Within the past seven years or so however, one particularly stubborn tooth has decided to break rank and go out on its own.  It is the tooth next to my right, top front tooth.

One of my lower, back molars had to be pulled after it cracked in a car accident when I was 18 years old. The dentist suggested I never have the wisdom tooth directly behind it pulled in order for it to partner with the molar directly above it.

“The wisdom tooth will slowly move into the spot of the absent molar. If you don’t keep that wisdom tooth, you will eventually lose the molar above it as the two molars biting down against each other help keep each other in place.”  He said.

Well, the wisdom tooth partially filled in the gap of my missing molar by angling itself under the top molar.  Because I have been a nighttime tooth grinder for years, that wisdom tooth grew at an angle and added uneven pressure to my upper molar and the whole row of teeth in front of it.  The pressure has caused all those upper teeth to move forward a little pushing the tooth next to my top, front tooth out of alignment.  My husband suggested Invisalign as a way to make that wayward tooth mind when I complained about it.

Invisalign is a custom-made, clear- plastic orthodontic appliance or retainer to straighten a person’s teeth.  Much like braces, but without the metal.  As I studied the Invisalign pamphlet my husband picked up for me, I couldn’t help but notice the parallel between the Invisalign orthodontic appliance and the Holy Spirit.

The need for Invisalign and what it does.

1. Misaligned teeth cannot be straightened on their own.
2. Invisalign works to straighten wayward and stubborn teeth.
3. It slowly nudges teeth to help get them on the straight path.
4. It provides help and comfort. With straightened teeth we feel better about our smile.
5. With the prescribed continued use it places teeth in line.
6. It can be removed to brush one’s teeth, but must be put back in place or teeth will remain misaligned.
7. It is discreet, made of clear plastic. Virtually, well- invisible.
8. Unlike braces, there are no harsh, sharp edges or annoying rubber bands.
9. There are no serious nook-and-cranny food traps as with braces and rubber bands.
10. The aligners are worn for a period of two years at the cost of about $5000. A portion may be covered by your insurance.

The need for the Holy Spirit and how He works.

1. We cannot keep ourselves aligned with God’s Word on our own strength.
2. The Holy Spirit works to convict our wayward and stubborn wills.
3. This helper gently nudges us to help set us get on the straight path.
4. The Holy Spirit is our helper, our comforter. We feel much joy walking in God’s will.
5. By listening to His quiet and gentle voice in our conscience, we walk a straighter path.
6. We can choose to ignore and remove Him from our mind and heart, but we will remain unhappy.
7. The Holy Spirit is unseen.  He works to help guide us behind the scene.
8. The Holy Spirit is loving and kind in the way He leads us, never harsh.
9. The Holy Spirit opens our eyes to traps we can fall in, and helps us to decipher good from bad.
10. The Holy Spirit is a God given gift for life when we choose to turn our lives over to Jesus.  Though the insurance was very costly, the price has already been paid by Jesus.

Do you see the parallel?

John 14:26   But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

Galatians 5:22-23  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

John 14:15-17  “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. You know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

John 16:12-14  “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak, and He will declare to you the things that are to come.

Romans 5:5  And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

2^nd Corinthians 3:17  Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

By ~ Elizabeth Yalian  ©2013