Dependent

I have been sick now since Friday. I was out to dinner with my family and a friend when some kind of flu attacked me, and boy did it hit me hard. It started with a runny nose and a lot of sinus congestion and within a couple of hours I was experiencing chills, heat flashes, body aches and cramps, extreme nausea . . . OK, you get the picture. It was just a few weeks ago that I felt the same symptoms, but not as extreme.
I have become dependent on every kind of cold and flu drug that there is. I hate being sick, but I hate taking medicine even more. I have taken so much crap the past few days, I don't even know what's working or in this case, not working. I have been taking Emergen-C, Cold-Eeze, Vitamin C (about 3,000mg a day), Ibuprofen, migraine pills, and I made a trip to the ER on Sunday only to come away with a prescription for Sudafed (the Doctor there said "It looks like you just have a really bad cold". I'm so glad that he was getting paid a boat load to tell me what I already know).
I was reading my book "Facing Your Giants" [by Max Lucado] when I came across this paragraph:
So David leaves, and Saul calls off the hunt. David defects into the hands of the enemy. He leads his men into the land of idols and false gods and pitches his tent in Goliath's back yard. He plops down in the pasture of satan himself.
Initially, David feels relief. Saul gives up the chase. David's men can sleep with both eyes closed. Children can attend kindergarten and wives can unpack the suitcases. Hiding out with the enemy brings temporary relief.
Doesn't it always?
Stop resisting alcohol, and you'll laugh - for a while.
Move out on your spouse, and you'll relax - for a time.
Indulge in the porn, and you'll be entertained - for a season.
But the talons of temptation sink in. Waves of guilt crash in. The loneliness of the breakup rushes in. "There's a way of life that looks harmless enough; look again - it leads straight to hell. Sure, those people appear to be having a good time, but all that laughter will end in heartbreak" (Prov. 14:12-13 MSG).

In this paragraph, David is giving up on God and himself. He is running out of trust and getting tired of running from Saul. He throws himself into the hands of his enemy thinking Saul will give up the hunt. He becomes dependent on the false idols and the enticing temporary relief that they bring. This got me to thinking about the false idols that I have had in my life. And as corny as it may sound, it got me to thinking about the false remedies for my flu. Every single label of the meds that I have been taking reads, "temporarily relieves". In a few short days, I have become dependent on every one of these temporary reliefs only to feel continually miserable.
My only hope was to refer to the ultimate Doctor. I started praying and rebuking the illness. I didn't receive any miraculous healing, but I did start to feel some gradual relief. The fever went away. The body aches ceased in intensity. The runny nose, well, it's still there but it's not as bad. And for the first time in four nights, I was able to breathe and experience rest. I guess that if I weren't a believer I could just write all of this off and say that it is just a result of all of the medicine that I have been taking. I say "Not". I say "Thank You Jesus".