It seems like it was just a few years ago as a child staying with my grandmother that I would develop a stomach ache. She would immediately go to her medicine cabinet and come back with a bottle of very dark tonic and a spoon. It was then that the race would begin as she chased me all over the house until I ran out of hiding places. A few minutes later, I was running again, but this time for water in an attempt to get the terrible taste out of my mouth. I always wondered why they couldn’t make good medicine taste better.
Now I am old and have learned that there are many types of medicine, and the good stuff still tastes bad going down. I am speaking of course, of the lessons of life. When the Great Physician determines that we need a remedy for what ails us, He often comes with a tonic, the likes of which we will never forget!
There are usually severe consequences for our mistakes and many times these are used to teach us life’s lessons. God will allow us to learn from these or we can choose to repeat our mistakes over and over again.
As a dog returns to his vomit, so a fool returns to his folly.
(Proverbs 26:11)
As the whirlwind passes, so is the wicked no more:
but the righteous is an everlasting foundation. (Proverbs 10:25)
Thanks to that bad tasting but life-changing medicine, I have managed to survive for all these years. I have also learned that rather than running from my prescribed dosage, I simply pause to ask this question.
“What will God teach me in the midst of this difficulty?”
I can assure you that He is always faithful to teach if we are willing to learn. Maybe one of the greatest lessons we could ever learn would be the answer to this question. Why do we continue to discover new ways to make mistakes? It was C. S. Lewis who gave us the answer.
“Human history is the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.”
—C.S. Lewis
We should stop chasing those elusive bubbles that burst when we catch them, and surrender once and for all to the Master.