Medicine That’s a Spice of Life

Psalm 6:2
“Have mercy upon me, O LORD; for I [am] weak: O LORD, heal me; for my bones are vexed.”

If you had painful skin, one of the last things you would apply to it would be hot peppers. Not only do hot peppers burn the mouth, some can even blister the skin.

Yet in South America, ground hot peppers have been used for centuries to help relieve pain. Scientists have discovered the active ingredient in peppers that relieves skin pain. This substance blocks the pain signals that come from the nerves just under the surface of the skin. The “hot pepper” sauce for skin not only causes no pain, it relieves pain that doesn’t respond to any other treatment. It’s available in creams and ointments that, tests show, relieve pain in two out of three people.

Conventional wisdom says that medicines that are found in natural plants were discovered by accident. Someone might accidentally discover a relationship between a person’s having eaten a certain plant and then getting well. They would try the same plants on others with the same disease. If they found that there were more cures, the plant would be remembered as a folk medicine.

The “hot pepper” pain reliever for skin tells us that there’s a problem with this theory. People who have a painful skin condition are not likely to apply a pepper sauce. Doing that would be expected to make their skin more painful and cause it to blister. However, it’s possible that our Creator originally gave humans some knowledge of the cures for our ills – cures that He wisely built into creation.

Prayer: Father in heaven, I thank You that You have provided help for our earthly sicknesses. Make me keenly aware that these cures cannot replace Christ in providing for my deepest need – the forgiveness of sins. Amen.

Author: Paul A. Bartz

Ref: Check, William A. “Hot peppers for pain.” Los Angeles Times (Reprinted in Reader’s Digest). Photo: Peppers _ Pixabay.com