I have never been good at taking medicine. Coming from someone who has endured chronic migraine for the majority of her life and should be used to taking medicine by now, I am known to wait until my pain is so bad I can't stand it before I face my fear of swallowing a pain pill. Yet there are some medicines that seem easier to swallow than others. And I'm not talking about Tylenol or Advil. There is "medicine" that we use for the pains in our life that we sometimes don't even realize we're using. Addictions we form to painkillers that we wouldn't even admit we're taking sometimes. Perhaps your medicine is pride. You use it to show everyone around you what a good job you're doing and receive all the compliments that affirm you. You've used it to try to heal the pain of insecurity lurking underneath the shadows in your heart. Perhaps your medicine is romance. You use it to go from one romantic relationship to the next, trying to prove that you are worthy of love. You've used it to try to heal the pain you felt when someone made you feel unlovable or worthless. Perhaps your medicine is addiction to what the world offers. You become addicted to things that don't even seem all that bad sometimes, maybe shopping or eating or sports or social media. Or maybe it's addictions you know are bad, but can't seem to stop. But you just keep clinging to whatever will fill the ache in your soul for a little while. Perhaps your medicine is anger. You use it to block out all of the hurt that you've felt from the betrayals, disappointments, and changes that life brings to each of us. You use it to put up bars around your heart that you think will somehow keep the pain away. The list of medicines that we use could go on and on. But here's the thing about these medicines that their labels don't tell you: They may numb your pain for a short while, but they can never heal you in all the ways you really need healed. The people of Israel made the same mistakes. They thought they had found things that could satisfy them more than God. They continually chased after idols and worldly things that only left them more empty than when they started. God said this about it: "For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns--broken cisterns that can hold no water." (Jeremiah 2:13) Broken cisterns that can hold no water? Surely you must know this feeling. When we turn to all of the "medicines" of this world to numb the pain in our hearts, it's like we're pouring into buckets that are so filled with holes, the water pours out almost as quickly as we're pouring in. And we're left empty. Emptier than before. So what then? What cisterns could possibly be sturdy enough to hold all of the ache in our hearts and turn it into something beautiful? What "medicine" could actually cure the wounds instead of just mask them? There is only One who can truly do all of those things. "For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness." (Psalm 107:9) "And Jesus said to them, 'I am the Bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst." (John 6:35) Only when you pour all of your hurts and the ache in your soul into Jesus will you receive a healing that satisfies and covers every wound left in your heart. None of the broken cisterns we try to fill up can satisfy us the way Jesus Christ can. None of our medicines of the world can heal us the way Jesus Christ can. So run to Him. Throw everything you have into Him. Give Him all of the hurts and the sorrows and the sins and let Him carry it. What is your medicine today? Is it a broken cistern...or is it Jesus?
Ashley Sulfridge
8/13/2018 04:32:54 pm
It is easy to replace God all to often with fading things because we don’t like the medicine God prescribes to us or because we all listen to the lies Satan tries to distract us with. Thank you for sharing this. It brought conviction to my heart.❤️
Bella Morganthal
8/29/2018 05:17:04 pm
Thank you so much for reading, Ashley! <3 8/15/2018 04:55:24 pm
Wow, this is powerful, Bella! Something we definitely all need to hear and really ponder - what medicine are we seeking? Thanks for this article, bestie. <3
Bella Morganthal
8/29/2018 05:17:36 pm
Thank you, dear! I love yooooou <3
Mom
8/19/2018 03:23:09 pm
Very well written Bella ! This is one of my favorite posts. . Jesus is all we need !
Bella Morganthal
8/29/2018 05:18:00 pm
Thank you Mama, you're the best :) <3 Comments are closed.
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