Do It God’s Way and Get God’s Results

TAKE THIS Rx
I had felt an itching sensation near the upper right corner of my lips, only a day before my family and I arrived in muggy, Southeast Georgia for a vacation. I had my suspicions, and as soon we got our luggage unloaded at my brother’s house, I headed for the bathroom. Rolling back the top of my lip to expose the pinkish under-bellow, I leaned over the sink for a close up in the mirror. Yep, just as I thought; a cold sore was in its early stages. The last thing I wanted was to spend my much needed vacation nursing a fever blister! I was determined to find the most advanced medication I could get over the counter to eradicate that pesky thing before it ran its course on my lip.

As I thought out loud about picking up some medication for my fever blister, my Sister-in-Law, who is also a registered nurse, piped in: “You know what will take care of that?” What?! I asked; eager to hear about any medication a registered nurse might have on hand to vanquish the dreaded sore. “Earwax”, she said. “Just put a little bit of your own earwax on it, and that’ll clear it up!” Wait, what?! Earwax! I asked? “Yes”, she said. “I’m telling you it works!”

I thought my wife would fall off her chair! “Uh,” she squinted! “Earwax—that’s disgusting!” I had never heard of such a thing. Who would have thought? Apparently, someone had! After all we were in the south where home remedies are common. And why not, I asserted! What could it hurt? It’s just wax, right? Not much different than bee or candle wax, for that matter! Besides, I reasoned—mostly with my wife, whose nose was still turned up—at least I don’t have to use someone else’s ear wax. And best of all, it’s free!

With Q-tip in hand, I extracted some earwax from one ear, and applied it to the sore. My wife was still frowning. The following day, I was excited to notice minor improvement. Or perhaps, I was overly optimistic. At any case, I applied more ear wax for several consecutive days. After about four days—much better than the usual one to two week period it took for the sore to heal—the sore had vanished! Just think! I could have been spared a great deal of irritation (and money) in the past, had I known I was carrying an excellent remedy for cold sores right on the sides of my head!

I know. Like my wife, some of you are sold on conventional modern medicine. The very thought of placing earwax (even if it is your own) on your lips is repulsive! I see your eyes squinting and hear you protest: “That’s unsanitary!” And if not unsanitary, it’s akin to snake oil treatments or superstitious folklore! But is it really so disgusting? Is it superstition? Consider this. Thousands of years ago people developed all sorts of home remedies for their ailments. My Dad, who is 91 years old as I write this, and getting around much better than many people thirty years younger than he, once told me that as a child he chewed tree sap (tar) from pine trees to settle an upset stomach. In the 1930s, money was scarce! Seeing a physician or being admitted to a hospital was almost unheard of except in extreme situations. What you and I call old fashioned home remedies was the norm—and many of them worked!

In the late seventies, Dr. L.L. Schneider authored a book entitled, “Old Fashioned Health Remedies that Work Best.” In his book, Dr. Schneider implied that man’s gravitation toward modern medicine could hasten him toward deteriorated health: “It seems every step he takes away from the old ways of natural living and in to the modern manufactured, synthesized, plastic life style, the closer he comes to the brink of this health crisis.” Here’s something else worth considering: Could it be, that the closer we come relying on “the modern manufactured, synthesized, plastic life style,” the less faith we have in the supernatural power of God?