Devotion - Proverbs 17:22 "Just smile"

A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones. -Proverbs 17:22

This time of year is tough on me physically.  For some reason, in the spring and in the fall, my epstein barr tends to sprout up and give me lots of grief.  I get pains in every joint in my body.  Sometimes I find myself praying that I can just stand up after I've been sitting for a while.  It takes a little bit of effort to get going in the morning because I'm so stiff.  My throat is generally pretty sore.  Since I have a bit of pain, it's tough getting a good night sleep.  All in all, this makes me a little grumpy.  Things that don't usually bother me, bother me.  If someone were to sing that song "smile, though your heart is aching, smile, even though it's breaking...."  and blah, blah, blah, I think I might actually punch them.  Okay, there, I got that out of my system.  Now this is what I love about the Bible.  Some people think it's an archaic book, written with no relevance to life today.  I've read the Bible through, cover to cover, many times and I always catch things I never caught before and I always see things in a different light than I've seen them before.  Besides that, though, sometimes, when you just need to hear something that will make a difference, you happen to read something that just really helps you out.  Last night, I was especailly in a lot of pain.  I just sat at the kitchen table breathing shallow because I felt that if I moved I would be in too much pain to bear.  I didn't go to church and my youngest was feeling sick as well, so I needed to tend to him.  I felt pretty down.  Then I read Proverbs 17:22.  I kid you not, I woke up this morning with a totally different attitude, and feeling much better.  Well, I was still in a little bit of pain, but the pain that was there was bearable because I had a different spirit about me.  Don't get me wrong.  I'm not one of those "you are healed!" sort of falling-on-the-ground types of people.  I completely believe that God heals, but in His time and for His glory, not for the glory of some faith healer.  I woke this morning, not with a healed body, but with a healed spirit.  A merry heart is like a medicine and praise God, that He can give me a merry spirit even when my flesh is telling me otherwise!