I don’t think sickness is ever a “spiritual attack”. And, by that, I don’t think God ever punishes you by giving you sickness. I don’t think that God ever actively gives you sickness. I think sin is the cause of sickness, living in a fallen world. However, it’s still God’s will, because… He could have stopped it, but didn’t, right? It’s His permissive will.
The beautiful thing, though, is that, as children of God, there is no condemnation for us (Rom. 8:1). There is no more punishment, no more wrath, and no more justice for us. All that’s left for us is grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness. So, we have to realize that God isn’t in the heavens saying, “Ah man… Blake screwed up. Now, CANCER!” *snaps fingers* That isn’t it at all.
Since we’re children, everything that happens to us is no longer an act of wrath, but an act of grace. Persecution is an act of grace by God toward His children. Suffering is an act of grace by God toward His children. Sickness is an act of grace by God toward His children. He’s already beaten sin and death on your behalf… He’s good! If He allows you to walk through sickness for a while, it’s for good. He wants to use it for good. (Rom. 8:28)
The thing is though, you never just accept sickness. God can heal and does heal. So, we are to fervently pray that the sickness be removed from us. But, we keep in mind that God isn’t a bad God if He doesn’t heal us. What if the reason that God allowed it was to realize that we’re in utter need of Him? To get us on our face, pleading in prayer?
It’s Augustine said, right now we’re looking at these jagged pieces of glass, but once we back up and see the stained glass picture, we realize the beauty of it all. We may never even see that whole picture in this lifetime. But our hope is not in our physical health… but in Christ Jesus.