When to Take an Aspirin and When to Pray

Some of the wisest counsel I ever heard was actually in a conversation I overheard. It was during a morning chapel service several years ago when one of our residents asked for prayer for her headache -- for about the 5th time. Florence, the wise woman leading chapel that day asked the woman if she had taken any aspirin and then she said, "God will not do for us what we can do for ourselves."

Take an aspirin. Say a prayer. It's OK to do both.

Some things can only be taken care of with prayer but other things just need a little change or adjustment on our part. Complaining never fixes or changes anything. It only deepens the victim mentality that we can all slip into.

Florence's advice came to mind this morning as I read about Moses and the people he was leading who were always complaining about something.

Exodus 17:2 provides a quick summary: So they quarreled with Moses and said, "Give us water to drink."
Moses replied,
"Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?"

The devotional content from Life Application Bible Study gives the following reminder:

"The people complained about their problems instead of praying. Some problems can be solved by careful thought or rearranging our priorities. Some can be solved by discussion and good counsel (or taking an aspirin). But some problems can be solved only by prayer. We should make a determined effort to pray when we feel like complaining because complaining only raises our level of stress. Prayer quiets our thoughts and emotions, and prepares us to listen."


Lord, give us ears to hear but hearts to listen.