I had a bad headache recently. You know the kind I'm talking about. You're head throbs, your temples pulse, and all you want to do is lay down on the couch. Headaches of this sort can be debilitating, forcing you to bed until the pain finally passes. Headaches are miserable.

But there is a wonderful little pill called Ibuprofen that does incredible things. Within hours of taking three Ibuprofen, my headache was gone, a distant memory of a less pleasurable time. And Ibuprofen is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the medicines available to me. At any given pharmacy I can purchase medicine that will relieve heartburn, prevent cuts from becoming infected, clear nasal congestion, help me sleep, keep me awake, reduce the length of a cold, kill a fever, and on and on. There is a medicine for virtually every sickness that I face.

Friends, medicine is a wonderful gift from an incredibly generous God. The truth is, we deserve pain. In fact, because of our sin, we deserve hell. God has no need to spare us from the pains that so often rack our bodies. We deserve our infections, and colds, and allergies, and headaches, and sore throats, and joint pains. Yet we serve an astonishingly kind and tender God who gives us medicine to relieve our pain. Oh what a blessing it is to take Tylenol! He doesn't owe us relief from our pain, yet in His generosity He supplies us with pain relievers.

The next time you take medicine, lift your heart in gratitude to the God who provided it. Thank Him for His incredible kindness and mercy in providing relief from pain. Each Ibuprofen you swallow is a gift from God.