On Taking Medicine

I’ve never been one to rely on a lot of medicine when I get sick. I don’t know, I just don’t like throwing a bunch of substances in my body. However, I will take medicine when I need it. I’m not one of these people who would rather die than swallow a pill. I would just rather let my body naturally get over the illness. Nevertheless, sometimes medicines are necessary.

For instance, I’ve had this cold/sinus infection thing for the past week. I don’t really know what the deal was (I never went to the doctor—I’m cheap). So, I took some sinus medicine to clear up my head and keep my fever down. The medicine worked pretty well I guess, but I still hate taking it.

One of the reasons I hate taking medicines is that most of them, particularly OTC drugs, only combat the symptoms of your ailment instead of really attacking the cause. Or, if you have an infection, you usually are prescribed some large-scale antibiotic which kills anything it finds while trying to rid your body of the infection. It's kind of like the atomic bomb of medicine. Medicines rarely ever focus on the problem at hand very effectively.

As people, when we deal with problems in life, a lot of times we tend to rely on temporary “medicines” to cure us of our issues. When we’re depressed, we get drunk. When we’re lonely, we have sex. When we’re economically unstable, we look for quick-fixes like winning the lottery. While all of these things may temporarily relieve our pain and suffering, they do not really deal with the problem. They merely cover up the systems for a brief amount of time, and then we have to take another dose.

Worldly remedies will never cure our human condition—the disease of sin. Nothing can truly satisfy us, regardless of how glamorous or popular it may be. The only thing that can truly heal us of our disease and provide a remedy for our humanity is God himself.

God does not treat our symptoms. He treats the cause by freeing us from sin itself. He is not a cover-up drug or a quick fix. He truly rids us of our disease.

I’m trying not to take any more medicine this week. I’m almost over this cold thing. More importantly, I need to not rely so much on worldly things to cure me of my problems.

For that, I need the Great Physician.