Jeremiah 46:11. "Go up to Gilead, and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt! In vain you have used many medicines; there is no healing for you."

In this prophecy against Egypt it is interesting that God, through Jeremiah, says Egypt has tried many medicines but there is no cure for her. In fact, Jeremiah tells Egypt to go and take balm (for all the good it will do her). What are these medicines and balm that God is talking about? They are the many things we try to use to fix things on our own. In the case of country like Egypt,  they were things like worship of the Egyptian gods, reliance on military strength and a strong economy, and maybe even actual medicines and balms concocted by their healers. God is saying these won't work this time, because He has set himself against Egypt.

Obviously, though, they did work in the past. Egypt was a mighty power while doing all these things. The point of having Jeremiah say this is to let Egypt, and us, know that God is ultimately in charge. We can be mighty, successful, healthy, and wealthy, and think it is all due to the things we are doing "right," but if we fail to remember that all of our gifts come ultimately from God, He will eventually allow us to lose them. When that loss begins, if we don't turn to Him, we often start trying to do all the "right" things harder - more hours at work, more exercise, more medicine. We can also seek out new things, new medicines, but if we don't look for God, they won't work either, and may make the situation worse.

So when times get tough, we don't necessarily have to change everything we're doing, but we do have to turn to God, thanking Him for our blessings, and even for our crosses (they get us to Heaven, after all!). He will then show us the way through our troubles and give us the grace to endure. He'll steer us away from any bad medicines we're taking and to the ones He wants for us, the ones that will work!