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April 25, 2008
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=========================== TODAY'S ARTICLE ==========================
Treating Symptoms, by Rubel Shelly
God would surely have known it, for he knows the secrets of every
heart (Psalm 44:21 NLT).
Physicians are trained to trace symptoms to their root causes. Then it
is the root cause -- not just a presenting symptom -- that gets
treated. We can all be grateful for that. What would happen, for
example, if headaches simply got aspirin and belly aches got antacids
without further tests?
The obvious answer is that many people would die from the serious
underlying diseases behind their relatively minor symptoms. Symptoms
are like the red lights that appear on the instrument panel of your
car. Don't smash the annoying light. Change the oil or find out why the
engine is overheating. To focus on the symptoms rather than what is
behind them just isn't very bright.
Without wanting to be unkind, let me try to be clear. We human beings
aren't terribly responsible when it comes to the basics of living.
Forget belly aches for a minute. Let's talk about financial
responsibility, intact families, or spiritual life. Are we treating
symptoms or addressing root issues?
A single mom with two children explained why she needed a vacation with
her girlfriends. "I'm so stressed out about money!" she said. "My
credit card is maxed out, and I am a month behind on my rent. I've just
got to have a break." My suggestion was that she forget the vacation,
put the money she had saved for it to catch up her rent, and start
paying down her credit card by taking a sandwich to work rather than
eating lunch at restaurants.
Symptoms are helpful things.
Her problem wasn't stress. It was debt -- needless, inexcusable debt
that she could take steps to eliminate. She took the advice. She tells
me I was a real friend to her by insisting she treat the disease rather
than the symptom.
It's not so different with trouble in a marriage or one's spiritual
life. "We're not happy and don't laugh like we used to. Maybe we should
take a trip together -- a second honeymoon, so to speak, and
reconnect." No. Find a competent counselor both of you trust, get
honest about the things that have broken down, and do your part to try
to rebuild the relationship. Get to the root of things.
It's a bit like the fellow who kept telling me he couldn't pray, didn't
like to read the Bible, and hated going to church. I knew enough of
what was going on to ask the right questions. So he finally started
coming clean about the affair and the drugs. It was the beginning of
the healing of his spiritual life. He quit talking about trouble
praying and not liking church and faced up to an out-of-control life.
Symptoms are helpful things. They let us know something isn't working
right and invite us to seek the cause. Then, with the real issues taken
care of, it's amazing how quickly the symptoms resolve.
---------
(c) 2008 Used by permission. From Rubel Shelly's "FAX of Life"
printed each Tuesday. See Faith Matters for previous issues of
the "FAX of Life."
RELATED LINKS:
* A Ray of Light
http://www.heartlight.org/two_minute/2m_990421_raylight.html
* Passion's Darkside
http://www.heartlight.org/together/tg_990217_passion.html
* Jesus in the Face of My Favorite Mentor
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200103/20010307_mydad.html
* RubelShelly.com
This article can be found on the web at:
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200804/20080425_symptoms.html
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