By Dr. Saundra Dalton- Smith
During my twenty years in clinical practice, I have witnessed the body’s incredible capacity for restoration.
I have seen broken bones mend and illnesses retreat under the influence of medicine and time.
I have also found that some of our most profound aches are not physical. They are the fractures in our spirit, the exhaustion in our minds, and the weariness in our souls that no pill can touch.
When most of us hear the word healing, our minds reflect on our most recent diagnosis.
But true healing encompasses so much more. It is not merely the absence of pain or disease, but the presence of peace and a sense of wholeness. It is the realignment and restoration of every part of who we are with the truth of God’s love for us.
Mountain Ranges and Valley Floors: The NonLinear Path
Healing is not a straight line.
It often looks more like a mountain range with many peaks and valleys. It requires persistence to stay the course even when it can feel like you’ve had a regression.
Think of the woman with the issue of blood. She didn’t give up hope after all the setbacks and disappointments. Despite spending all she had on conventional medical treatments; she pressed her way through the crowd in Mark 5 to touch Jesus. After many days in the valley, she finally entered a time of healing.
Her story is a testament to the fact that healing requires persistence, courage, and a faith that is willing to push through obstacles. Many sermons focus on her miracle moment of touching the hem of His garment, but let’s not forget the years of waiting, the daily prayers, and her trust in God’s desire for her to be healed. This is what healing looks like.
The Sacred Work of Waiting Seasons
If you are currently in the middle of a health crisis, this part of the journey can feel intensely frustrating.
We want a breakthrough now, minus the ebbs and flow. But the process itself is part of healing. God uses these waiting seasons to strip away the lies we have believed and reframe our identities in His truth.
The healing journey teaches us a holy reliance on His presence and His timing. Healing looks like trusting Him even before the symptoms lift or the circumstances change.
It’s a humbling process as we learn to lean more deeply into His grace and compassion during our times of need.
The Liberation of Letting Go
Sometimes healing is not about gaining something you feel is missing in your life but rather letting go of something that is no longer serving you.
We can carry bitterness, shame, guilt, or unforgiveness for so long that they begin to feel like a part of us. They become unseen toxic attachments to our soul, blocking our joy and hindering our spiritual health. Hebrews 12:15 reminds us that bitterness can grow deep roots that entangle our hearts and choke out the life God desires for us.
Soul deep healing often begins when we release what we cannot control and place it all in God’s hands. Consider the infertility of Hannah who wept bitterly before the Lord in 1 Samuel 1. Her healing journey didn’t begin when she conceived, but in that sacred moment when she released the full weight of her anguish to God in prayer.
Healing looks like tears on the altar. It’s the place where our unmet wants are surrendered to God. We stop carrying the weight of our hurt alone and allow the Lord to carry it.
The Transformative Power of Shared Stories
Another truth we often forget is healing can require community.
James 5:16 states, “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed” (NIV). Healing can look like finding those safe people who will listen without judgment, pray with fervor, and walk alongside us through the valley.
For women especially, this community healing can be incredibly powerful. Sharing our stories brings light into the darkness and breaks the silence that shame thrives on. When one woman testifies about how God brought her through a difficult season, another woman receives the courage to believe that her own healing is also possible.
Healing looks like holding each other up, speaking life over a sister in Christ, and consistently reminding one another of God’s unwavering faithfulness.
Integration: Bringing Every Fragment Under His Authority
In the Gospel of John, Jesus encountered a man who had been ill for thirty-eight years and asked him a question that has always puzzled me, “Do you want to be made well?”
The word well is not just about physical health but about complete wholeness. Healing looks like integration and restoration of the body, soul, and spirit. It is the process of bringing every fragmented part of ourselves under the authority of Christ.
It means our bodies are honored and cared for as temples of the Holy Spirit. It means our minds are renewed daily with truth and protected from the onslaught of negativity and fear found online. It means our emotions are acknowledged and surrendered, rather than stuffed down or ignored in the name of self-sufficient strength.
Healing looks like living at peace with how God has uniquely knitted you together.
Hope That Refuses to Die
Even when full restoration has not yet arrived on our timetable, healing can look like hope.
Romans 15:13 calls our Creator the “God of hope,” who fills us with all joy and peace as we trust in Him. Your healing may not be the complete absence of pain or reversal of disease, but the grace to see God’s faithful fingerprints throughout your life.
Even when complete restoration does not seem possible on this side of eternity, healing can look like joy that passes understanding and the courage to live fully now. It can look like hope that refuses to die, because it is anchored in the truth that Christ has conquered death and the grave.
Healing is a settled assurance that your life is already beautifully restored in the finished work of Jesus.
