When we’re sick, most of us automatically seek out a health care professional. We’re so accustomed to following the doctor’s orders to speed up the healing process, we don’t think about the spiritual side of good health. There’s nothing wrong with physicians and hospitals, but we mustn’t lose sight of who is ultimately responsible for healing. When we acknowledge that our creator wants us healthy and sound, sickness and disease have to go.

Forgetting that healing comes from God is like leaving out the most important link in a genetic sequence. God is not simply a distant supernatural being in another time dimension; He’s a personal God who loves us very much and doesn’t want to see us suffering or in pain. “Dear friend, I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit” (3 John 1:2, NLT). When we experience health issues, we can be quick to blame God and ask Him why He made us sick. This type of wrong-thinking is because we simply don’t know God’s true nature.

He’s a good God who wants to give us good things. “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17, NIV). God isn’t angry with us, and He isn’t intent on punishing us. He’s not trying to teach us anything by making us sick. Disease comes from the enemy, not from God.

Battling illness can be frightening and discouraging, and put our whole future in question. At times like this, we don’t know what will ultimately happen, and we may wonder about our chances for recovery. We have God’s Word concerning His plans for us. “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the LORD. ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope’” (Jeremiah 29:11, NLT). Believing this, with no trace of doubt, gives us hope.

Hope that comes from God brings us joy that can’t be extinguished, even with health issues. When we have the kind of joy that He wants for us, it gets down into our hearts and spirits. God is the Great Physician, and even earthly doctors have acknowledged something they may not fully understand yet—clinging to hope and joy can do more good than medicine and prescriptions alone. “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones” (Proverbs 17:22).

Believing in God’s ability and willingness to heal is no small thing. One of the people who came to Jesus during His ministry was a woman who had suffered from a bleeding issue for twelve years, and no doctor had been able to help her. She touched Jesus’ garment and was instantly healed; her healing came not from her actions, but from her faith. “And He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction’” (Mark 5:34, NKJV).

When the doctors give us bad news, we must remember that one of the reasons Jesus went to the cross two thousand years ago was to make healing available to us right now, when we need it. Medical science continues to look for breakthroughs and cures, but as far as God is concerned, our healing is already done. “O LORD my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me” (Psalm 30:2). Agreeing with this activates the missing link.