The Ministry of Health and Healing

In the ministry of healing, physicians are to be co-workers with Christ. The Savior ministered to both soul and body. The gospel that He taught was a message of spiritual life and of physical restoration. Deliverance from sin and the healing of disease were linked together. The same ministry is committed to Christian physicians. They are to unite with Christ in relieving both the physical and spiritual needs of humanity. They are to be messengers of mercy to the sick, bringing to them a remedy for the diseased body and the sin-sick soul.

Christ is the true head of the medical profession. The chief Physician, He is at the side of every God-fearing practitioner who works to relieve human suffering. While physicians use nature’s remedies for physical disease, they should point patients to Him who can relieve the maladies of both soul and body. That which physicians can only aid in doing, Christ accomplishes. They endeavor to assist nature’s work of healing; Christ Himself is the healer. Physicians seek to preserve life; Christ imparts life.

The Source of Healing

Sickness, suffering, and death are the work of an antagonistic power. Satan is the destroyer; God is the restorer.

The words spoken to Israel are true today of those who recover health of body or health of soul. “‘I am the Lord who heals you.’” Exodus 15:26.

The desire of God for every human being is expressed in the words, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” 3 John 2.

It is God who “forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies.” Psalm 103:3, 4.

When Christ healed disease, He warned many of the afflicted ones, “‘Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.’” John 5:14. Thus He taught that they had brought disease upon themselves by transgressing the laws of God, and that health could be preserved only by obedience.

Physicians should teach their patients to cooperate with God in the work of restoration. Disease is the result of sin. The laws of nature, as truly as the precepts of the Decalogue, are divine, and only in obedience to them can health be preserved or recovered. Many who are suffering as the result of hurtful practices might be restored to health if they would do what they could for their own restoration. They need to be taught that every practice that destroys the physical, mental, or spiritual energies is sin, and that health is to be secured through obedience to the laws that God has established for the good of all humanity.

A physician who sees a patient suffering from disease caused by improper eating and drinking or other wrong habits, yet neglects to tell him or her of this, is doing injury to a fellow being. Drunkards, maniacs, those who are given over to licentiousness, all should be told clearly and distinctly that suffering results from sin. Those who understand the principles of life should be in earnest in striving to counteract the causes of disease. Seeing the continual conflict with pain, working constantly to alleviate suffering, how can physicians hold their peace? Are they benevolent and merciful if they do not teach strict temperance as a remedy for disease?

Let it be made plain that the way of God’s commandments is the way of life. God has established the laws of nature, but His laws are not arbitrary exactions. Every “You shall not,” whether in physical or in moral law, implies a promise. If we obey it, blessings will follow. God never forces us to do right, but He endeavors to save us from the evil and lead us to the good.

Consider the laws that were taught to the Israelites. God gave His people definite instruction in regard to their habits of life. He made known to them the laws relating to both physical and spiritual well-being, and on condition of obedience He assured them, “‘The Lord will take away from you all sickness.’” “‘Set your hearts on all the words which I testify among you today.’” “For they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh.” Deuteronomy 7:15; 32:46; Proverbs 4:22.

God desires us to reach the standard of perfection made possible for us by the gift of Christ. He calls upon us to make our choice on the right side, to connect with heavenly agencies, to adopt principles that will restore in us the divine image. In His written Word and in the great book of nature He has revealed the principles of life. It is our work to obtain a knowledge of these principles, and by obedience to cooperate with Him in restoring health to the body as well as to the soul.

People need to learn that the blessings of obedience, in their fullness, can be theirs only as they receive the grace of Christ. It is His grace that gives us power to obey the laws of God. It is this that enables us to break the bondage of evil habit. This is the only power that can make us and keep us steadfast in the right path.

When the gospel is received in its purity and power, it is a cure for the disorders that originated in sin. The Sun of Righteousness arises “with healing in His wings.” Malachi 4:2. Not all that this world bestows can heal a broken heart, or impart peace of mind, or remove care, or banish disease. Fame, genius, talent—all are powerless to cheer the sorrowful heart or restore the wasted life. The life of God in the soul is our only hope.

The love that Christ diffuses through the whole being is a life-giving power. Every vital part—the brain, the heart, the nerves—it touches with healing. By it the highest energies of the being are roused to activity. It frees the soul from the guilt and sorrow, the anxiety and care, that crush the life forces. With it come serenity and composure. In the soul it implants joy that nothing earthly can destroy—joy in the Holy Spirit—health-giving, life-giving joy.

Our Savior’s words, “‘Come to Me, ... and I will give you rest’” (Matthew 11:28), are a prescription for the healing of physical, mental, and spiritual ills. Though people have brought suffering on themselves by their own wrongdoing, He regards them with pity. In Him they may find help. He will do great things for those who trust in Him.

Although for ages sin has been strengthening its hold on the human race, although through falsehood and trickery Satan has cast the black shadow of his interpretation upon the Word of God and has caused people to doubt His goodness, yet the Father’s mercy and love have not ceased to flow earthward in rich currents. If human beings would open the windows of the soul heavenward in appreciation for the divine gifts, a flood of healing virtue would pour in.

Seek Constantly to Improve

Those who find that they are unfitted for medical work should choose some other employment. Those who are well adapted to care for the sick but whose education and medical qualifications are limited would do well to minister faithfully as nurses. By patient service under skillful physicians they may be constantly learning, and by improving every opportunity to acquire knowledge they may in time become fully qualified for the work of a physician. Let the younger physicians, “as workers together with him [the Chief Physician], ... receive not the grace of God in vain, ... giving no offense in any thing, that the ministry [of the sick] be not blamed: but in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God.” 2 Corinthians 6:1-4, KJV.

God’s purpose for us is that we shall ever move upward. The true medical missionary physician will be an increasingly skillful practitioner. Talented Christian physicians, having superior professional ability, should be encouraged to engage in the service of God in places where they can educate and train others to become medical missionaries.

Physicians should gather to their souls the light of the Word of God. They should make continual growth in grace. With them, religion is not to be merely one influence among others, it is to be an influence dominating all others. They are to act from high, holy motives—motives that are powerful because they proceed from the One who gave His life to furnish us with power to overcome evil. If physicians faithfully and diligently strive to make themselves efficient in their profession, if they consecrate themselves to the service of Christ and take time to search their own hearts, they will understand how to grasp the mysteries of their sacred calling. They may so discipline and educate themselves that all within the sphere of their influence will see the excellence of the education and wisdom gained by a person who is connected with the God of wisdom and power.

In no place is a closer fellowship with Christ needed than in the work of the physician. Anyone who would rightly perform the physician’s duties must daily and hourly live a Christian life. The life of the patient is in the hands of the physician. One careless diagnosis, one wrong prescription, in a critical case, or one unskillful movement of the hand during surgery, and a life may be sacrificed, a soul’s probation ended. How solemn the thought! How important that the physician shall be ever under the control of the divine Physician!

The Savior is willing to help all who call upon Him for wisdom and clearness of thought. And who needs wisdom and clearness of thought more than does the physician, upon whose decisions so much depends? Let the one who is trying to prolong life look in faith to Christ to direct his or her every movement. The Savior will give the necessary tact and skill in dealing with difficult cases.

Seeking God’s Help Through Prayer

The sick and suffering will have much more confidence in the physician who they are confident loves and fears God. They rely upon his or her words. They feel a sense of safety in the presence and administration of that physician.

Knowing the Lord Jesus, it is the privilege of the Christian health professional to invite His presence into the sickroom by prayer. Before performing critical operations, physicians should ask for the aid of the Great Physician. They should assure the suffering ones that God can bring them safely through the ordeal, that in all times of distress He is a sure refuge for those who trust in Him. The physician who cannot do this loses case after case that otherwise might have been saved. If he or she could speak words that would inspire faith in the sympathizing Savior, who feels every throb of anguish, and could present the needs of the soul to Him in prayer, the crisis would more often be passed safely.

Only He who reads the heart can know with what trembling and terror many patients consent to an operation under the surgeon’s hand. They realize their peril. While they may have confidence in the physician’s skill, they know it is not infallible. But as they see the physician pray, asking help from God, they are inspired with confidence. Gratitude and trust open the heart to the healing power of God, the energies of the whole being are vitalized, and the life forces triumph.

To the physician as well as to the patient, the Savior’s presence is an element of strength. Often the responsibilities and possibilities of the physician’s work bring dread upon the spirit. The feverishness of uncertainty and fear would make the hand unskillful. But the assurance that the divine Counselor is present to guide and to sustain imparts quietness and courage. The touch of Christ upon the physician’s hand brings vitality, restfulness, confidence, and power.

When the crisis is passed and success is apparent, let a few moments be spent with the patient in prayer. Give expression to your thankfulness for the life that has been spared. As words of gratitude flow from the patient to the physician, let the praise and thanksgiving be directed to God. Tell the patient his life has been spared because he was under the heavenly Physician’s protection.

Physicians who follow such a course are leading their patients to the One upon whom they are dependent for life, the One who can save to the uttermost all who come to Him.

Into the medical missionary work should be brought a deep yearning for souls. To the physician equally with the gospel minister is committed the highest trust ever committed to humans. Whether he or she realizes it, every physician is entrusted with the cure of souls.

In their work of dealing with disease and death, physicians too often lose sight of the solemn realities of the future life. In their earnest effort to avert the peril of the body, they forget the peril of the soul. The ones to whom they are ministering may be losing their hold on life. Life’s last opportunities are slipping away. These souls the physician must meet again at the judgment seat of Christ.

Often we miss the most precious blessings by neglecting to speak a word in season. If the golden opportunity is not watched for, it will be lost. At the bedside of the sick no word of creed or controversy should be spoken. Let the sufferer be pointed to the One who is willing to save all who come to Him in faith. Earnestly, tenderly strive to help the soul that is hovering between life and death.

Physicians who know that Christ is their personal Savior, because they themselves have been led to the Refuge, know how to deal with the trembling, guilty, sin-sick souls who turn to them for help. They can respond to the inquiry, “What must I do to be saved?” They can tell the story of the Redeemer’s love. They can speak from experience of the power of repentance and faith. In simple, earnest words they can present the soul’s need to God in prayer and can encourage the sick one also to ask for and accept the mercy of the compassionate Savior. As they thus minister at the bedside of the sick, trying to speak words that will bring help and comfort, the Lord works with them and through them. As the mind of the sufferer is directed to the Savior, peace fills the heart, and the spiritual health that comes is used as the helping hand of God in restoring health to the body.

In attending the sick, the physician will often find opportunity for ministering to friends of the afflicted one. As they watch by the bed of suffering, feeling powerless to prevent the pangs of anguish, their hearts are softened. Often grief concealed from others is expressed to the physician. Then is the opportunity to point these sorrowing ones to Him who has invited the weary and heavy-laden to come to Him. Often prayer can be offered for and with them, presenting their needs to the Healer of all woes, the Soother of all sorrows.

God’s Promises

The same power that Christ exercised when He walked visibly on earth is in His Word. It was by His word that Jesus healed disease and cast out demons. By His word He stilled the sea and raised the dead, and the people bore witness that His word was with power. He spoke the word of God, as He had spoken to all the prophets and teachers of the Old Testament. The whole Bible is a manifestation of Christ.

The Scriptures are to be received as God’s word to us, not written merely but spoken. When the afflicted ones came to Christ, He saw not only those who asked for help but all who throughout the ages should come to Him in like need and with like faith. When He said to the paralytic, “‘Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you,’” and when He said to the woman of Capernaum, “‘Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace,’” He spoke to other afflicted, sin-burdened ones who should seek His help. Matthew 9:2; Luke 8:48.

So with all the promises of God’s Word. In them He is speaking to us individually, speaking as directly as if we could hear His voice. It is in these promises that Christ communicates to us His grace and power. They are leaves from that tree which is “for the healing of the nations.” Revelation 22:2. Received, assimilated, they are to be the strength of the character, the inspiration and sustenance of the life. Nothing else can have such healing power. Nothing else can impart the courage and faith that give vital energy to the whole being.

To one who stands trembling with fear on the brink of the grave, to the soul weary of the burden of suffering and sin, let the physician, as opportunity presents itself, repeat the words of the Savior—for all the words of Holy Writ are His: “‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. ... Since you were precious in My sight, you have been honored, and I have loved you.’” “‘I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins.’” “‘Fear not, for I am with you.’” Isaiah 43:1-4, 25, 5.

“As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.” Psalm 103:13, 14.

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9.

“‘I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions, and like a cloud, your sins. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.’” Isaiah 44:22.

“‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.’” Jeremiah 31:3.

“‘Let not your heart be troubled.’” “‘Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.’” John 14:1, 27.

“‘Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth!’” Isaiah 45:22.

“‘He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses.’” “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.” Matthew 8:17; Isaiah 53:5.