Tuesday, April 17, 2012

No Quick Fix

Once, several years ago, I fell into a clinical depression. It lasted two miserable years.
After it went away when I would start feeling a little down and bluesy I would panic. No, no, no, no, no. I don't want to go back there. 
But it's like I heard God say, "Just hold on to me and we'll ride it out."

We live in a quick fix world. 
Hungry? Stick some popcorn in the microwave.
Tired? Drink some coffee.
Headache? Take a pill.
Bored? Get on Facebook.

There's an answer, a formula, a quick fix for everything.
Or so we think.

Truth is, most quick fixes don't fix anything. 
Eating a snack may not satisfy the nutritional needs that underlie your hunger.
Coffee isn't going to help you the way a good nights sleep will.
Taking a pill doesn't address the reason why you get headaches in the first place.

Most real fixes require time. And we don't like to wait.
One time I was reading about when Abraham had some angels come and visit. He offered them lunch and the meal began with him asking a servant to go out and kill the best calf.
That was no fast food. These days we barely even want to wait around for water to boil.

A while back I was having a really bad mood. I was irritable, mean, sensitive, sad, and borderline insane. It was awful.
I'd read that one way to change a bad attitude is to focus on gratitude.
I'd just had my birthday so I decided to write out forty-six things I was thankful for. 
It didn't work.
My mood was the same, if not worse.
The thing is, sometimes there is no magic formula--no quick fix. Sometimes we just have to be where we are and invite God into it. It will take time, but He promises to ride it out with us. 

2 comments:

  1. Sometimes I'm desperate for a quick fix--anything to make the downs of life more bearable. Thanks for such a fabulous reminder that we're not in this alone!

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