Overcoming Spiritual Neuropathy

Christians sometimes suffer from spiritual neuropathy. Neuropathy references damage to the nerves, often resulting in burning or numbness. In a spiritual sense, Christians endure spiritual neuropathy when they lose the sense of wonder, awe, and astonishment for the work of God in their lives – in other words, they can’t feel any more.

Losing Touch

I can speak from experience. When I am spiritually healthy and fruitful, I am amazed and overwhelmed by God’s work in my life. Thankfulness is not just normal, it is nearly instinctive. The world is painted in brilliant and sensory colors that constantly point to the creativity and power of God. I feel like I live in a world that is more than physical; the physical is only a covering over an astonishing spiritual realm.

Spiritual neuropathy does not strike suddenly. It is a slow, gradual process of losing that sense of wonder and emotion. The spiritual nerves harden, the sensations become less vivid, and gradually life becomes monotone. Astonishment and wonder are replaced by cynicism. Curiosity is replaced by factuality. Because it is such a slow process, the Christian may not realize that he suffers from this disease. He may even feel that he has grown up, matured, and moved past a more ‘emotional’ stage.

A Tender Heart

But this is wrong. Christians are meant to feel. The Bible speaks of Christians as those who have ‘new hearts,’ hearts of flesh rather than hearts of stone. God promises to look to the one who is humble and contrite in spirit, and who trembles at his word. This is a man who feels deeply, who is moved by the spiritual realm.

The musician of Psalm 92 speaks in awe-struck terms of the greatness of God’s works and the vastness of his magnificent thoughts. Evidently, here is a believer whose spiritual nerves are healthy and active. In stark opposition stands the ‘stupid man’ who ‘cannot know’ and the ‘fool’ who ‘cannot understand this.’ In fact, these senseless individuals go a step beyond spiritual neuropathy – they are spiritual corpses.

Another sacred song-writer, Asaph, found himself in a severe case of spiritual neuropathy. He was overwhelmed by the physical prosperity of the wicked and seems to have grown hardened spiritually. Yet when he went to the ‘house of God,’ he realized his errors. He had become deadened and senseless – “brutish and ignorant,” he says, “like a beast.” With the return of his spiritual senses, the psalmist is overwhelmed by the tender mercies of God and the rich spiritual landscape he inhabits. “You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory,” he says in wonder.

Finding Healing

How do you regain the lost spiritual sensations that you once enjoyed? Spiritual neuropathy is a difficult case, easier to diagnose than to treat. It didn’t develop in a day, and the treatment is prolonged.

Two common culprits often cause the malady: busyness and hopelessness. While there is nothing necessarily wrong with busyness, it can crowd out unhurried time in the presence of God. Without this vital connection, the spiritual blood-flow is cut off, and the nerves degenerate. Even if you have a dedicated ‘quiet time,’ you can still rush through it in such a way that you lose much of the benefit.

Similarly, hopelessness can harden the heart. The sense that nothing will change makes God seem less good and his creation less beautiful. When hopes are dashed and prayers go unanswered, a faithless response to God’s sovereignty gets in the way of wonder and worship.

These aren’t the only two causes of the disease, but they are common. The treatment is simple, but prolonged. Plan significant time in God’s presence. Take time to read His Word, study it, meditate on it, and pray through it. Get used to the prayer-closet. Learn to unveil your heart to your Maker. Ask Him to accomplish His purposes within you. Seek His perspective on all of life.

Similarly, take your disappointments to God. Reconnect with what it means to be a disciple. Surrender your life to Him and confess your total submission to Him. Give Him permission to meddle with your deepest hopes and most cherished dreams (He doesn’t need that permission – but you need to learn to give it). Ask for faith and learn to trust Him. Recount past mercies. Gradually your despair will turn to hope, and the hardness within you will become pliable.

For even at your most cynical, hardened moment, God is still at work in the world. Open your eyes wide. Feel deeply. There is more of God’s truth and goodness at work than you can comprehend.