Why Your Thoughts Matter When You're Sick
The Transformative Power of Positive Thoughts and God's Word in Sickness
God created us as triune beings: spirit, soul (mind, will and emotions) and body. You are a spirit, you have a soul, and you live in a body. And each part of who we are affects the others.
Our bodies are like an automobile that God provides for us to drive around earth. If we want them to perform to their maximum ability and be around for a long time then we need to choose to think in ways that will help them.
The truth is that all of our thoughts, good or bad, have an effect on our physical anatomy. Science has proven that positive, hopeful thoughts increase energy, whereas negative, hopeless ones drain energy.
In fact, research shows that 75 to 98 percent of mental, physical, and behavioral illness comes from one’s thought life.1The mind and body are definitely connected!
Thinking and Speaking His Word Breathes Life into Our Situation
When we’re sick, the enemy likes to bombard our minds with negative thoughts like, This is never going to work out. You’re never going to get well. It’s just going to keep getting worse. However, one of the ways I’ve learned to stop the wrong thoughts is to fill my mind with the right thoughts from God’s Word.
Hebrews 4:12 (AMPC) says, The Word that God speaks is alive and full of power. Thinking and speaking His Word breathes life into our situation.
Years ago when I was battling cancer, God put it on my heart to fill my mind with the following things, then speak them out loud as often as I could. I would think and say: “God, I know that You love me. I believe that all things work out for good for those who love You and are called according to Your purpose. I put my trust in You, and I will not fear” (Romans 8:28, 35-39; Joshua 1:9; Proverbs 3:5).
No matter what kind of sickness you are fighting, I encourage you to focus on things that are positive and full of hope from God’s Word.
Think, I am blessed, and I’m getting stronger every day–the Lord renews my strength. I receive healing because Jesus died to take away sickness and disease. God has a great plan for my life, and I am expecting great things for my future. Something good is going to happen to me today (Isaiah 30:18, 40:31, 53:5; Ephesians 1:3; Jeremiah 29:11)!
1 Dr. Caroline Leaf, Switch On Your Brain, Baker Books, pg. 33–38, September 1, 2013.
Adapted from the resource THE MIND CONNECTION.
