Thursday Health Check: Neuroplasticity and Gospel by Rachel Zobeck
Some people enjoy change. Others avoid it whenever possible. Regardless, change itself affects some of the circuitry within our bodies and brains. Current brain research shows us that the brain is adaptable – a concept called ‘neuroplasticity.’ Behaviors and thought patterns that we reinforce with repetition create stronger neuropathways, feeding the habitual nature of our actions. In order to weaken these pathways, new ways need to replace old ones, which is most difficult starting out. By way of analogy, if you were finding your way through a dense jungle,
Right now, most of us have been in the process of learning a ‘new normal,’ and it likely feels uncomfortable at times; we are having to take our first few journeys through the jungle by a different path. This can be disorienting. More than usual, we may be looking for ‘anchors’ – those things that haven’t changed. A well-worn path that reminds us we know how to walk. We will likely find several: relationships that are still intact despite distance, a sun that still rises and sets, the same coffee that we can make in the morning. Despite changes, we are usually able to find things that have not changed. There is comfort in this, but not in a complete sense: deep down we know that these things could change at some point too. Looking deeper, we seek that which has not changed, and even more importantly, will not change.
We ask:
“What do I know to be true?”
And then, “What will be true, always?”
The answers to the second question provide more than just an anchor – they provide a solid ground.
I am reminded of Matthew 7:24-27 as Jesus speaks about the house built on a firm foundation. “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock” (7:25). Rain falls, (literal) floods come, and circumstances bump up against the houses we have constructed, both physically and mentally. Even the jungle pathways in our brain are prone to inclement conditions. So how do we build upon the solid ground? How do we keep from falling when we’re shaken?
Jesus tells us – “Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock” (7:24). In contrast, the foolish man hears the words of Jesus but does not follow through on them in his actions, which is followed by tragedy. The neuropathways of solid ground are the ones in which we hear Jesus and do what He says. As our listening and obedience to Him deepens with repetition, we find that our feet are resting on solid ground and that the solid ground is in fact Him. We are kept intact because He has made a way for us to take part in His immovable grace to us. Our firm foundation will not change because He will not change.
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8)
“For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.” (Malachi 3:6)
We are told that God’s word “will stand forever” and “is firmly fixed” (Isaiah 40:8; Psalm 119:89)
We also know that God loves his people with an “everlasting love,” with complete faithfulness. (Jeremiah 31:3)
“The Lord’s counsel stands forever, and the plans of his heart to all generations” (Psalm 33:11)
He is the Alpha and Omega, who was, and is, and is to come. (Revelation 1:8)”
These are only a fraction of the parts of Scripture which remind us of God’s consistent nature. Is there a better voice to hear and follow? I don’t always obey when I hear His words, but I want to. The more that I know Him, the more that I see there is no better path and no stronger foundation.
In a world where even our anchors can change in an instant, it is grace that invites us to build the houses of our souls on the solid ground of Jesus Christ.
