Broken bones need more than a bandaid

When a problem goes deeper than the surface, the solution needs to address more than just the outside issues.

They offer superficial treatments for my people’s mortal wound. They give assurances of peace when there is no peace. (Jeremiah 6:14)

My dad broke his arm on December 27. As you can imagine, that sort of threw us all for a bit of a loop as we adjusted life to compensate. I rushed home and took him to the minor emergency room. The doctors and nurses took an x-ray. And then they gave him a My Little Pony bandaid and sent him home.

No, of course they didn’t.

They trussed him up in a sling, which was soon replaced by an immobilizer that he pretty much had to wear for two months. You can’t fix a broken bone with a bandaid, My Little Pony or otherwise. The problem goes deeper than the skin, so the solution can’t only take care of the outside. It has to take care of the inside.

This is the tricky part about peace. On the outside, we can look peaceful. We can address our anxiety with all sorts of exterior solutions, but until we sort out the inside, we won’t know true peace.

Shortly before Jerusalem fell to Babylon, while the prophet Jeremiah was shouting at people to listen to God’s Word, loads of other prophets were telling everyone that they were fine. That they didn’t have to turn back to God. That God was pleased with them. That conquest and destruction wasn’t lurking on their doorstep.

The people of Israel were bleeding out, and all these false prophets could offer them was a bandaid. They refused to address the real problem—that their nation had turned away from God.

We suffer from anxiety and fear and rage in our world today because we are seeking solutions everywhere except through faith in Christ. Until you find your peace in God, you will keep searching for a solution. Only Jesus is enough to satisfy your soul’s thirst for peace.

Deal with your soul first. That’s where the real problem is.

Questions for Reflection

• How can you know if you are relying on Jesus in your life?

• What are some ways you can tell if you’ve surrendered your heart to Him?

• What are some symptoms you might notice if you are relying on yourself to fix all your problems?

Weekly Memory Verse