This word is submitted by Teresa Seputis (ts@godspeak.org)

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                   I Am The Master Surgeon

Child, there are times when it seems that I have to rip you open in 
order to heal you, and you wonder why I allow you to go through some 
of what you experience. Child, I do not allow these difficulties and 
pains in your life to be cruel.  But it is necessary to expose the 
problem and bring it to the surface, that I might remove and heal it.  
And that is often an uncomfortable process.  

Yet, that is the nature of surgery. Look to the natural, where a surgeon 
has to make an incision to get at a cancerous growth. Then the surgeon 
has to cut away the flesh around the tumor before he can remove it.  This 
is a difficult and painful process. To an untrained observer, it may seem 
like the surgeon is damaging healthy flesh at times, but it is necessary 
to cut away that deadly tumor; it cannot be removed while it is still 
attached to the parts of the person that are healthy and alive. The 
procedure may seem harsh, but the purpose is not to cause harm, but to 
bring healing and to save the person's life.
 
It is very similar when I operate on your inner wounds.  I have to 
"make incisions" in order to explore the inner issues.  I do that through 
difficult circumstances or unpleasant experiences that trigger the issue 
and cause it to surface and be visible.  I do this only because I desire 
to heal you.  Yet at times, you wonder how I could allow these things to 
happen to you.  You wonder why I am not protecting you if I truly love 
you, and you begin to question My love for you.  You begin to think that 
I am punishing you for some unknown sin, or you begin to think that I am 
harsh or cruel.  I am none of these things. I am your Father God and I 
love you dearly.  

Child, it is because I love you and because I want you well that I have 
placed you upon My surgery table.  Even though things may feel out of 
control and overwhelming to you, I am working behind the scenes in your 
life.  I am attentive so that you will never be asked to endure more 
than you can handle.  You may feel exposed and vulnerable, but My hand of 
protection is upon you and I am watching carefully over you.  

In the midst of your surgery, you may feel ugly beyond measure or 
unacceptable and unlovable.  But that is not reality.  I never reject
you or disqualify you or push you away for squirming under the surgeon's 
knife. I love you dearly and I see you differently than you see yourself.
Remember that as I look at you this day, I exist in all times at once.
So I see your present condition but I also see the finished product. I 
do not think of you in terms of your present day hurts and failures, but 
I see you as the whole and complete person that you will be when My 
surgery is completed.  I see you molded and conformed to the image of My 
Son, and you are lovely to Me.  And I desire you greatly. I could never 
find you repulsive and I could never push you away.  Child, you are 
precious and highly desirable to Me even though you don't feel that way 
at this moment.  Do not trust your feelings, for they will lie to you as 
you undergo My surgery. Instead trust the reality of My word and of My 
promises to you.

As you lay on My surgery table, child of Mine, take comfort in this:
I will not leave you there longer than necessary and I will not cut away
more than is necessary.  So trust in My ability to work in your life to 
heal and transform you.  Know that I am working in you for your good, 
that you might be whole and complete, and that these past hurts will have 
no more power to influence your life. Child of Mine, I am the master
surgeon and I will do a good work in your life.  So trust in Me and
know that I am working on your behalf that your joy will be full. And
know that I have many good and pleasant things in store for you, and
I will surely accomplish them in your life.