Bear Hugs Kettle

I once read an anecdote from the West that carries a wonderful lesson for us today. It goes something like this.
A party of hunters being called away from their camp by a sudden emergency left the campfire unattended, with a kettle of water boiling on it.
Presently an old bear crept from the woods, attracted by the fire, and , seeing the kettle with its lid dancing about on top, promptly seized it. Naturally it burnt and scalded him badly; but instead of dropping it instantly, he proceeded to hug it tightly---this being Mr. Bruin’s only idea of defense. Of course, the tighter he hugged it the more it burnt him, and the more it burnt him the tighter he hugged it. This vicious circle was the undoing of the bear.
This illustrates clearly the way many people amplify difficulties. They hug them to their bosoms by constantly running them through their minds, by constantly telling themselves and others about the problem, and by constantly dwelling on them in every possible manner, instead of dropping them once and for all so the wound can have a chance to heal.
Whenever you catch yourself thinking about your grievances, say to your self:
“Bear Hugs Kettle!” Then think about God and how He can provide you the answers you seek.
Just like treating an open wound, you have to stop picking at it so that it will heal. The fact that you have medication does not mean it will magically heal your wound if left in the tube. You have to open the medication and apply the ointment to the wound. Just like the ointment you have no control of how it will heal you. You simply trust it to ease the pain and cause the wound to go away.
When we apply the Word of God to our problems the same trust must be present. We cannot know how He will sooth our soul or solve our problem, but we must trust Him to do what He said He would do.
To hear what God has to say we must not only open our Bibles we must open our minds and be receptive to His voice. Jesus said we are to love the Lord with all our soul, with all our spirit and with all our mind.