When Your Suffering Has No Easy Answers: Why Christ's Presence Matters
Sometimes, a meaningful first step in counseling is shifting the goal from solving the problem to finding the person of Christ. This doesn't mean abandoning biblical truth, practical help, or the hard work of understanding what has happened and what to do now. But sometimes the first step is simply turning toward Christ, even when we cannot immediately address the grief, anxiety, or paralyzing confusion.
Thoughts on the Nervous System, Emotional Regulation, and the Spirit’s Gift of Self-Control
Every command in the Bible was given to a human being with a nervous system. What does that mean for the way Christians understand emotional regulation, human weakness, and the Spirit’s gift of self-control? As a biblical counselor, I’ve been thinking about how to take both physical realities and the commands of Scripture seriously without allowing either to eclipse the other.
When I started counseling formally, the language of trauma was only beginning to become mainstream. We were talking about trauma in the body, neuroplasticity, and the ways chronic stress affects the brain and nervous system. Since then, I have continued to learn about the physiological effects of prolonged stress and the ways trauma can affect a person's thoughts, emotions, relationships, and responses to perceived danger.