The Bible says that suffering helps us grow in perseverance, character, hope, maturity, righteousness, peace, obedience, reliance on God, and many other positive changes like becoming more compassionate and so on…(see Romans 5, James 1, Hebrews 5 and 12, 2 Corinthians 1). I want to propose a way that I think this happens not only in our spirits by God’s grace and power, but also in our brains through the way he created us.
Human brains have a set of structures that are part of what is called the “limbic system”. This part of our brain experiences basic emotions like fear and anger. It is also responsible for creating memories. These basic emotions and memories are not only experienced in the same part of the brain, but they also impact each other. The connections between fear and memory is especially pronounced when we suffer from trauma. Extreme negative experiences, where fear is very high, cause this part of the brain to become highly activated. This causes our memories of the event to be extremely vivid and long lasting.
Ask anyone who suffered trauma, and most would say they remember it vividly. Many decades later some would say they “remember it as if it were yesterday.” The reason is that the memories were created when the limbic system was highly activated . What’s more is that their perception of reality at the time of the event also becomes deeply rooted. For example a victim of date rape might perceive that all men who seem to like her, will eventually hurt her. This becomes a deeply rooted memory that is difficult to change on her own.
I wonder then, if some of the same principles apply, when we go through lesser forms of suffering. It may not be acute enough to fit the definition of trauma, but nonetheless increases the activation of our limbic system. While going through a period of suffering then, God could be using that time to change our character and our perceptions of reality.
For someone who is going through a period of suffering, if they respond in Godly ways, and try to endure with patience, obedience, and faith, those characteristics will be embedded more deeply in their brain.
Contrast this with someone who goes through suffering with a rebellious and angry attitude. They will emerge from that season angry and resentful. You probably have known people who have suffered and come out better and some worse. I think this is at least partly why.
This reminds me of Old Testament theologian Walter Brueggemann book “Spirituality of the Psalms” in which he categorizes the Psalms into three types: orientation, disorientation, and reorientation. Psalms of orientation speak of how all is right with the world that God has created. The just are uplifted, blessed, and protected, and everything that God says makes sense in the world as we experience it. Psalms of disorientation, are the opposite, where nothing makes sense. The just suffer, the unjust prosper, and God seems to be absent. Psalms of re-orientation are where the psalmist integrates both realities into his perception of God, where sometimes things make sense and sometimes they don’t, but God is still God and the reality of his goodness can contain the difficult questions of our spiritual life.
I suggest that what Brueggemann is describing fits with this view. Not only does God use suffering to change our character for the better, but he also uses it to expand our perception of him. When we walk through suffering with him, our experience of his character becomes more deeply entrenched. As a result we know his love and care not only when things are going well, but also when they are not.
One important caveat. We need to be careful not to approach those who are suffering with a “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” approach. We don’t want to insensitively say “walk with God in your suffering, this is for your own good.” This is especially counter-productive for those who are traumatized. God has an important place for community in suffering and recovery from trauma that is both Biblical and scientific. That is unfortunately beyond the scope of this discussion, but I do I hope to explore that in future posts.
[1] There are situations where memories are repressed, but that is a different story requiring a much longer discussion