“As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” (Proverbs 23:7 KJV)
We hear a lot these days about mind/body connections. Not surprisingly, God’s Word spoke about that long before now. There are various verses in Scripture confirming that our thoughts and emotions affect our bodies.
I have seen this in my own body over the past 15 years. I typically react to difficulties with fear, anxiety, or depression. Literally within minutes of thinking about or feeling negative thoughts and emotions, I will get a migraine or tension headache, have a panic attack, or become extremely fatigued. It takes great effort to fight these responses. It is much easier to give in than to put up a fight and respond differently.
When recently faced with some new concerns, my initial reaction was to wonder how I could endure yet another problem and worries of will it get worse? My body began responding to each negative thought.
I stopped and asked myself if I really wanted to down this road again, knowing what the outcome would be; or would I choose to think on what is right and true? It was very difficult to make the right choice, but praise God I had victory that day. Of course more tests will come and I need to be prepared for them.
Although we associate the heart more with feelings and emotions, our thoughts do trigger emotional responses, which in turn can trigger physical ones.
Scripture says that we are to renew our minds (Romans 12:2), to be made new in the attitude of our minds (Ephesians 4:23), and to think on what is true (Philippians 4:8).
I want to develop an awareness of where my thoughts and emotions are focused at all times, not just in times of crisis. As I am obedient to His commands and control, I will have life and peace (Romans 8:6) even in my pain, and that’s a mind/body connection I want to experience.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, as I go through each day, help me to remember and act on the truths of Your Word rather than just reacting to my circumstances. As I do, my body and soul will benefit by Your refreshment and peace. Amen.
About the author:
Bronlynn Spindler lives in VA and is blessed to have the support and encouragement of a wonderful husband and three grown daughters. God’s grace and strength have brought her through thyroid cancer and continue to sustain her through ongoing back pain, depression, headaches, multiple sensitivities, and fibromyalgia. You may view her blog of devotionals at www.aplaceofsprings57.blogspot.com.
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Does your body respond to negative thoughts and emotions? If so, do you have positive ways of dealing with this?
Thanks soooo much! It’s so true.
Went to a leadership seminar where they used Psalm 23:7 as the basis for the phrase “To think is to create!” This has helped me sooooo much in my recent journey with CFS. When I got very low one day I remembered that saying & grabbed a cup of herbal tea & sat outside in the sun & thought “ahhhh! It’s the first day of school holidays & now I get to rest in the sun with a cuppa…..Bliss!” Within a blink of an eye the same elated & joyful emotions that I would experience on the first day of school holidays flooded into me!!! (Yes….I was a teacher until recently & LOVED it, but also loved the first days of holidays.) I’ve used this strategy a few times & am amazed at the instant change in emotions & body. I’ve told my Counsellor it’s like messing with my head before it messes with me!
Another great verse on this theme is
Psalm 69:32b “You who seek God, let your heart revive!” (Notice the word “let”!)
God bless you in your gift of writing, Bronnlyn. Lotsoluv Kerryn
PS. Am beyond exhausted tonight, but thought “I have just the right amount of energy to comment to this & managed it!”
Yes, medical science is certainly acknowledging the power of mind over body these days. I thought I’d share a bit of what i have learnt about the mind/body connection in case it is of value to someone else. I don’t have any organic identifiable disease but have suffered with chronic head and pelvic pain for over 25 years. In chronic pain, the nervous system is in a permanent hyper-excitable state of pain. I had a very stressful upbringing – oldest child, mentally ill mother, absent father. During this time I became hyper-vigilant, feeling responsible to watch out for my mum. This constant stress on my nervous system kicked into chronic pain in adulthood. The pain management clinic has encouraged me to regularly do a bodyscan meditation. After a few months, I am noticing some improvement.
Recently, I was excited to come across a website called “Unlearn your pain” run by an American physician. He believes that in chronic pain where there is no underlying disease, the brain has learned to respond in pain as a result of earlier stresses in our life, both in childhood and/or adulthood. Just as the pain has learned to react in pain, he says it can unlearn to do this. I have ordered his book. There are many encouraging stories on the website.
Bronlynn: Thanks again for sending out a great devotional thought and being willing to be vulnerable.
When I went through some Christian counselling some time ago, I learned how to counter some of the lies that decide to jump into my mind. You may know it as “self-talk”. It might be, “This is terrible” when the reality is it’s embarrassing or scary or frustrating, but “this too shall pass”. Or, it could be, “I’ll never be able to do this again”. That’s something that pops into my thoughts once in awhile when I’ve had an especially tough time driving to the city and doing errands. The last time I thought that, the next thing to come to my mind was, “You got through it with God’s help and He’ll be with you the next time too.” Also, “The next trip won’t necessarily be this difficult”.
I see this as a way of transforming my mind, as I study God’s Word, talk to other growing Christians, read good books and devotionals like this one, and step out in faith.
Luv ya!
Beth
Kerryn:
Loved your comments, but would you mind checking that first reference? Psalm 23 has only 6 verses.
Bronlynn – great devotional!
I can relate – as others have said, too. Truly, I can feel my body tighten when the worries pound. It takes much effort to turn it around and part of what happens to me is that I want the “feeling” of relief of both the physical challenges that are always present and also the “feelings” that the worries bring. One can get lifted off as one rests in God but sometimes it is hard to know that it has been lifted off when the base line physical challenges remain.
I believe it takes a lot of faith when we are resting in God as it is a surrender rather than a feeling. He is so gracious and does bring peace. It is getting used to what that peace “feels” like and dwelling in it in spite of the other pains that are present either in body or thoughts that want to persist. It often takes a hammer to drive them out! Guess that is why we have the words in the Word to use them to pound out the lies and/or concerns that want to take over.
Continuing the journey with you and all our others here who understand!
Love,
Lynn
Beth:
WOOPS! Thought “Proverbs” & wrote “Psalms”!! Good pick up…..CFS causes my brain to often trade words without me realising! LOL! Kerryn
Kerryn: Don’t give me too much credit – I found out just because I actually looked the verse up. 😉 I can relate somewhat to your brain difficulties as I have ADD and get very confused at times.
Thanks for taking the time to answer my question. Interesting way to look at the verse. We sure are in a battle for the mind. We may lose a skirmish, but, ultimately, God and all who are His, will win the war. In fact, it was won at Calvary! Praise the Lord!!
Kerryn,
Thanks so much for your comments. Verbally speaking Scripture out loud is my best therapy for everything 🙂 It just requires my diligence in doing it. Psalm 69:32 is one of my favorites. I also love Romans – The mind of sinful man is death but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace”. That’s what I need:) Thanks for using your energy to make a comment.
Blessings and peace.
Bronlynn
Kim,
I know I have definitely trained myself to respond to certain situations with specific pain, based on some of my past pain. My back would start to hurt doing certain things and now, even when it shouldn’t, it will tense up when I do those things. It is an ongoing process trying to reteach myself, but I have found that verbally speaking God’s truth to myself out loud is one of the greatest helps. I pray for God’s wisdom and direction as you work through your pain.
Blessings,
Bronlynn
Beth,
An excellent book I just finished on depression said that we should talk to our depression, kind of like what you said, and speak the truth, And when we start speaking those lies, just yell out, “STOP!”. I am working on that – I just need to be sure no one is around when I do 😉
Love and prayers,
Bronlynn
Lynn,
I wrote to you on the other website 🙂
Love,
Bronlynn
Thanks, Bronlynn – will go and find it! 🙂
Bronlynn: Thanks for your comments. We can learn so much from each other can’t we?
Yes, people might wonder why all of a sudden you said, “STOP” in their hearing. 😉
Love,
Beth
Bronlynn,
Thanks for the love, time & energy taken to reply to each of us…..very thoughtful. Everyone’s comments on here have helped…..thanks all.
I’m amazed that you know & love Psalm 69:32. I’ve never met anyone who’s even known about it. It’s been special to me for many years as it was “our verse” for the dance group I led at our church many years ago called “Revive”.
Thanks for other Romans verse too. Memory (especially short term) is not good currently with CFS so have had to focus on short verses or 1 word. Last night I ordered stones with 1 word on each also to help me…..words like: faith, hope, love, joy, relax, breathe, enjoy, embrace etc. Anyone interested in getting them go to: courageinstone.com
My other current fave verse is Psalm 3:3 “Thou O lord, art a shield about me, you’re my glory and the lifter of my head.” Each part of this verse helps me…..hope it helps someone else too.
Thanks again. Keep writing as energy allows Bronlynn……you have a gift. Lotsoluv Kerryn
Kerryn,
The Psalms are probably the best book for me when it comes to may pain – so many great verses and they’re not usually too long 🙂 I forgot to reference that verse in Romans – it’s Romans 8:6. Scripture memory is very challenging for my brain as well. I am learning to accept that if I can remember some of an exact verse but not every specific word, it’s okay as long as I remember the main point. I don’t do too well with references either so as long as I get the book right, I’m okay with that. I keep working at being perfect with my memorization but God knows what I can and can’t do. And I keep m favorites in a little expanding pocket file divider thing filed by topic, so whatever my current “problem of the day” is, I can just look in that slot and there are my favorite verses to go over and refresh my memory. Won’t it be wonderful when we have our pefect minds in heaven:)!
Blessings,
Bronlynn
Bronlynn,
LOVE the “expanding pocket file divider thing” idea! Will think about how I might use that…..ta! Thanks for Romans 8:6 too.
Have a great day……lotsoluv Kerryn
Kerryn – thanks for the site address that has the encouragement stones!
I have seen those used but have never known where to find them.
🙂 Lynn