Nice and Nasty Medicine
by Lindsey Hanekom
Recently our son went down with a bad cold/flu virus. With a raging fever, runny nose, very sore throat and a loss of appetite we struggled with a day and night cycle of childhood medicines to try and control the fever. Designed especially for young children, Kyle had no problem taking the medicines; they tasted yummy!
After a week of it only getting worse a doctor prescribed a course of antibiotics since it was clear that there was something causing such a continuously high fever. That is when the medicine consumption took a turn – this medicine most definitely did not taste yummy. In fact it tasted nasty. No effort had been made to make this particular drug palatable to children.
And so a battle of wills ensued! Each time he even caught a glimpse of the medicine approaching him, he would run. Having eventually cornered and caught him, we would then lovingly but firmly have to restrain him enough to get the medicine in the mouth, but getting him to swallow the medicine was beyond our control.
As I sat frustrated, considering how to win this particular battle with my son, my mind started to wander about how I respond to God’s ‘medicine’. I am always willing to take the nice ones… the comfort, the care, the protection, and the provision, but when it comes to Him trying to give me a dose of discipline, correction, rebuke or conviction, I’m not always so willing to respond positively.
Without his medicine, Kyle would only have got sicker and it’s the same for us. We can enjoy the good medicines and they can help, often dealing with symptoms rather than the cause of the symptoms, but sometimes the only thing that can make us better is the ‘nasty’ ones. Sometimes it takes a rebuke, clear and unpalatable as it may be, to make us realise that there is a cause to our pain and repentance is the only way we will find healing.
Let’s take this Scripture to heart, for God only wants the best for us and sometimes that means taking a dose of the ‘not so nice’ medicine.
Prayer: Father God, help me not to despise Your discipline. Help me see that You only bring me discipline when I need it. Thank You for Your comfort, care, protection and provision, but Lord, I need to hear Your voice of rebuke when I am wrong. Amen.
Lindsey Hanekom Lindsey has worked at all of our UK centres over the years and has settled at Ellel Scotland with her husband, Johann and their two young children, Kyle and Zoe. As part of the Leadership Team at Ellel Scotland, Lindsey has a heart for the deeply broken as she oversees the prayer ministry and is an established and passionate teacher with Ellel. In her spare time, Lindsey enjoys the natural world, particularly the ocean, and is trained as a specialist medic to assist stranded and injured marine mammals.
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