Why Trusting the Invisible Might Be the Most Rational Thing You’ll Ever Do

 

There’s a moment we all dread. It doesn't knock. It doesn’t ask. It crashes through the door, draped in grief, stress, fear, or heartbreak. The diagnosis. The phone call. The betrayal. The long night that doesn’t end.

But here’s the kicker: pain isn’t just emotional. It rewires your brain. Literally. Neuroscience tells us that chronic stress and trauma reduce the size of the hippocampus (memory and learning), while inflaming the amygdala (fear and reactivity). The brain gets hijacked. Rational thought takes a back seat. Hope starts to rot in the basement.

And yet—some people don’t unravel. Some emerge wiser. Stronger. Even peaceful.

What’s going on in their brains?

Turns out, it’s not wishful thinking. It’s chemistry.

Studies show that people who regularly engage in spiritual practices—like prayer, meditation, and trust in a higher power—show increased activity in the prefrontal cortex, the area responsible for logic, regulation of emotion, and meaning-making. In other words: the very systems that trauma disrupts begin to heal.

Even more stunning? Longitudinal research from neuroscience labs has documented measurable reductions in cortisol (the stress hormone) and increases in serotonin and dopamine—the brain’s “feel good” chemicals—in people who report a sense of trust in God or a transcendent presence during suffering. This isn’t just spiritual poetry. It’s hard data.

But this leads to the question no one really wants to ask:
Why would a loving God allow suffering in the first place?

There’s no neat answer. But consider this: what if suffering isn’t always the enemy? What if pain doesn’t destroy faith but refines it—burning away the shallow stuff and forcing us to confront what we really believe?

Jesus once cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). That’s not polished theology. That’s agony. And it made it into the Bible. That verse isn’t proof that faith is fake when life hurts. It’s proof that real faith can scream.

And here’s where it gets wild.

Brain scans show that people who believe God is close and caring—even in suffering—recover faster from trauma, show lower levels of inflammation, and are more resilient long-term. Not because their lives are easier. But because their trust reshapes their biology.

So what do we do with this?

What if trust isn't about understanding everything?
What if it's about choosing hope when nothing makes sense?
What if the most rational response to suffering is believing you're not alone in it?

What if God isn't the one who explains the pain, but the one who enters it?

We were never promised a painless life. But we were promised presence.

Challenge question:
When was the last time you actually told God the raw truth of how you're feeling? What would happen if, instead of numbing or fixing, you risked trusting—even before anything changed?

Call to action:
This week, take five minutes each day to tell God what hurts—and ask Him to meet you there. Not to remove it. Just to show up. Keep a journal. Track how you feel. Let the evidence write its own story.

Because sometimes, the most powerful transformation doesn't begin with an answer. It begins with a yes.