Taking medicine

My daughter, Crunchy, has a bad toothache. She had some dental work done last week, and now it's infected. We've had three very rough nights in a row. But no matter how much pain she is in, Crunchy does NOT want to take medicine. Last night, about an hour after she fell asleep, she half woke up and was crying (while holding on to her cheek) "I don't want any medicine!"

Daddy and I have to insist that she take the medicine. We have the big picture. We understand that, while it tastes "yucky", the antibiotics have started working on her infection and they are making her better (slowly). We also understand that the Ambesol feels funny (and also is "yucky"), but it does numb the area and help her sleep. Now we've added prescription tylenol with codeine that we know will take away the pain. So we insist that she take the medicine. Sometimes we even have to hold her down to get it in her mouth. Why do we do it? Not because we enjoy torturing her. We do it because we know it is necessary for her to get healthy again.

This morning I had an "aha" moment. Sometimes God is trying to remove things (infections) from our lives. He knows the cure. He knows how to help us get better. But we fight him. We don't understand why we have to stop playing to take His "medicine". But, as a gentle parent, He insists. Not to torture us, but to make us healthy again.