It started in the morning; suddenly I had a very intense tooth ache. I took two pain killer pills and felt a little better but the pain returned in full force after the effect of the pills wore off. I tried another remedy, a topical gel that is applied to the hurting tooth. Again it brought some relief but the pain inevitably returned. Through the remainder of the day and a night of tossing and turning I tried to get comfortable by taking the maximum of pain pills allowed in a 24 hour period.
Of course, there would be no relief. Not without someone getting to the root of my pain. When morning came I made an emergency appointment with the dentist, he took an x-ray of the effected area and concluded that the tooth had to come out. After applying local anesthesia, the tooth was pulled. Now that the root for my pain was gone, true healing was possible.
My behavior in dealing with a tooth ache often resembles the way how we try to handle other pain in our life—and it is just as unsuccessful! Pain relievers, no matter which kind one may choose will only cover the pain but have no power to get rid of it or heal, because they don’t deal with the root of the pain, only the symptoms.
Just as my ailment required the attention of a medical professional to diagnose the problem and than initiate treatment, we need to expose our emotional and spiritual pain to someone who not only treats the symptoms but knows how to truly heal us.
Going through life, we all make painful experiences. There is pain from physical injuries, but what often hurts more are the wounds that our emotions suffer.
Today I want to encourage you not to resort to self-medicate your pain by using popular (but ineffective) remedies like alcohol, drugs, partying, sex etc. You will not experience real relief until the cause of your pain is dealt with.
Who then can you go to for real help? The Message from our Creator tells us about Jesus, the Creator’s Son, who was sent for the specific purpose to “bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners”. He “heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds”
[1] Luke 4:38; [2] Psalms 147:3
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