It is always great when someone in research science spends time and money to prove something that we knew all along. In a study done at the University of Exeter researchers have found that the brain response to a perceived threat is stopped when we are reminded that we are loved and cared for! Who knew? [i]
Forty-two healthy healthy patients were studied using MRI brain scans to look at an area in the brain called the amygdala. The amygdala changes on the MRI scans when an individual is shown pictures of threatening situations. The changes that occur with the threat did not occur when the patient was shown pictures of other people receiving emotional support and affection before being shown the threatening pictures.[ii]
Similar responses have been seen in research that looked at brain scan changes in individuals who have pain. The brain response was reduced in patients who were shown reminders of being loved and cared for. This response in pain and for those who fell threatened is particularly seen in anxious individuals.
We could have told them this 2000 years ago! Yes, Paul said it in multiple places and ways and so did John the Apostle. John said, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us.” (1Jo 4:18-19 NAU) There is the answer 2000 years before an MRI brain scan could show us a picture. The one who know that he is loved by the sovereign God of the universe does not need to fear!
Paul would tell us further that nothing could separate us from God’s love! “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?... For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 8:35-39 NAU)
There we have it. Nothing can separate believers from the love of an omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, sovereign God! Believers who come to understand this have nothing to fear from life. And, we have the brain scans to prove it! Teaching those who struggle with fear and worry about the grace of God and His sovereign power in their lives is the most effective way I know of to help anyone stop worrying.
This concept and research show us a great opportunity in Biblical counseling. We can help those who struggle with PTSD and anxiety disorders. We can help by teaching them what the scriptures say about the God who loves them and who wants to cast out their fears. As Paul would say, “If God is for us, who is against us?” (Rom 8:31 NAU)
1. [i] L. Norman, N. Lawrence, A. Iles, A. Benattayallah, A. Karl. Attachment-security priming attenuates amygdala activation to social and linguistic threat. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 2014; DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsu127
[ii] University of Exeter. "Brain's response to threat silenced when we are reminded of being loved and cared for." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 7 November 2014. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141107111025.htm>.