For many of us, the healing process can seem mysterious, yet wonderful. Whether we need to be healed in our minds or our bodies, we have doctors and health care professionals with specialized knowledge of how to get the desired results, but the actual healing itself goes beyond them. The mind and the body have been given physical capabilities of restoring themselves back to health, but there is a specific force behind these abilities. This force is none other than God, the master physician.

There have been many instances when doctors admit they’ve done all they can for a dying patient, but can’t logically explain the person’s sudden recovery other than with the word “miracle.” God is well able to work through doctors to achieve His desired results, but many people forget who should ultimately get the credit for their healing. “…For I am the Lord that healeth thee” (Exodus 15:26). When the doctors have come to the end of their finite abilities, God’s infinite power to heal is just beginning.

People can have a tendency to place their faith in a human with a medical degree, a bottle of pills, or a prescription. There’s nothing wrong with physicians or medicine, but misplaced faith does no good when all else fails and health deteriorates. The faith we need is the kind of faith the woman with the issue of blood displayed when she went to Jesus for healing. “And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, ‘If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.’   Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering…He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering’” (Mark 5:25-29, 34, NIV).

Religion has taught us that maybe it’s God’s will for us to be healed, but maybe it isn’t. God’s nature is consistent and He doesn’t play guessing games. When a man with leprosy expressed doubt over Jesus’ willingness to heal him, Jesus’ response was quick and decisive: “Suddenly, a man with leprosy approached him and knelt before him. ‘Lord,’ the man said, ‘if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.’ Jesus reached out and touched him. ‘I am willing,’ he said. ‘Be healed!’ And instantly the leprosy disappeared” (Matthew 8:2, 3, NLT). Faith in not only God’s ability, but also His willingness, to restore us to health plays a huge part in our healing.

We also make a mistake when we think that God heals others, but not us. Thinking like this takes away the hope and encouragement we need, and it short-circuits our faith. God doesn’t want us to suffer and He doesn’t differentiate between people. “Then Peter replied, ‘I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism’” (Acts 10:34, NLT). God’s promise of healing applies to everyone who trusts in His Word, no matter who they are.

God loves us and He wants the best for us. When we study the Scriptures on healing, agreeing with them allows God to heal and restore us. He can easily accomplish what no other earthly doctor can do.