Healing the Brain's Tranquility System

"Every body better memorize and remember this." He spoke with such authority he caught my attention. The man speaking was Archibald Hart, Dean Emeritus and Senior Professor of Psychology at Fuller Theological Seminary. He was talking about the function of cortisol also known as the stress hormone. He explained that the function of cortisol was for "flight or fight" when we are being threatened. However, he went on to say that when levels are to high it results in depression and can also cause panic and anxiety disorders because it blocks receptors in the tranquility system of the brain.

So what can you do when life seems out of control when your brain is being bathed with cortisol and you know with certainty that the tranquility system is not only blocked but feels like it is broken?!? The answer made me smile. It made me smile because I have found this to be true in my own life. What brings healing and restoration are the spiritual disciplines of silence and solitude.

When life seems out of control how can you find silence and solitude?  God gave us an invitation to "Be still, and know that I am God."(Psalm 46:10) The stillness and peace you can experience when the world around you is at rest is not what this psalm is talking about. Instead this psalm refers to not being afraid, "though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling." The tranquility that is offered in this psalm is in spite of  a time when, "the nations rage, the kingdoms totter."

The Hebrew word for "be still" is rapha. It means to be weak, to let go, to release. In this Psalm I find an invitation to surrender in order to know that God is in control. I have to give up trusting in myself before I can experience the glory of knowing God's all sufficiency. Sometimes God takes me into the heart of my greatest fears and there He shows me that He is my refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Father, you have taught me that in all things I am to give thanks. I confess that when You lead me to places where the earth I stand on gives way and the mountains I use for navigation are moved my first response is fear. Thank You that because You are my refuge and my strength I can find stillness in the midst of the storms of this life. Because the LORD of hosts is with me I can experience tranquility of mind and a peace that passes understanding.