Expectorant

Have you ever had that feeling that an elephant is sitting on your chest? It never fails when I get sick that my chest is the place my congestion settles. Every breath is arduous and sleeping? Forget it. Ugh! Nighttime is the worst time when you are sick. I dread going to bed with a cold. It seems like no matter how comfortable my bed has been in the past it always feels like rocks on those nights. My pillows, which I prefer to be cold to the touch when I get in bed, seem hot and sweaty and overstuffed. Once I make it to bed it takes 85 contortions and several leg kicks to make laying down tolerable. That blessed moment that I finally fall to sleep is always a long time coming. Of course after all the tossing and turning and trips out of bed and back for kleenex, I'd much rather stay awake all night. Which, really is what I do anyway. If I do enjoy the pleasure of falling asleep I inevitably wake up and roll over to look at the clock...a whole half hour has gone by. One down, 13 more to go. Good grief.

Like any other product, I am always in search of a good cold medicine. Especially one that will help me sleep without making me feel like I left half my body in bed when I rise. Now, most nighttime products have alcohol in them so I try to avoid those. I love good old Robitussin. It comes in all sorts of different types, but the kind I most often use is the DM. I have never understood this, but it is both an expectorant and a cough suppressant. I think that the expectorant is supposed to get that stuff out that makes you feel like an elephant is on your chest. The cough suppressant, well, suppresses your cough. So if you are getting the stuff out of your chest but not coughing...How does that work?? Weird. I use it though and it seems to do both things quite well.

Do you ever feel like you have an elephant sitting on your chest in your spiritual life? I think that we all go through seasons where we feel like we are hauling around a big weight. Or what about the times when we feel just ho-hum spiritually? As always, the bible has an answer for these aliments, a Robitussin of sorts. Colosians 3:16 in the NLT says, "Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts." Thankfulness is a spiritual expectorant. When we are thankful, worshipping is an easy thing and praise starts to 'loosen' in our hearts. When we lose sight of all that we have to be thankful for we become restless, like when we're sick. Mole hills become mountains and blessing are taken for granted.

Even when it seems like we don't have anything to be thankful for, it is imperative to take stock of how much we really do have. Things like breath, health, homes, familieis, fresh water and food are all things to be thankful to God for. When we do our part and start calling out our thanks to God for even the little things, He opens us up and allows the most beautiful praise to come forth and furthermore He pours His abundant love in to the deepest parts of us. Now that is good medicine!