More Than Flesh and Blood
We are comfortable acknowledging realities we cannot see.
We speak about seasons of life— We talk about burnout, emotional exhaustion… anxiety. Some attribute life's difficulties to the universe, energy, fate, or even "Mercury being in retrograde." Others simply say, "Things will get better," trusting that time or circumstances will somehow bring relief.
None of these statements are tangible; they describe realities we cannot physically hold, measure, or always explain. Yet we often accept them without much hesitation, which raises an interesting question.
Why is it easier to trust invisible processes than the invisible Creator?
When someone says, "It will work it out," they are also acknowledging something beyond human ability. They are recognizing that not everything can be solved through intellect, effort, or determination alone. Some circumstances expose the limits of what we can control. The difference is not whether we believe in something unseen, the difference is who we believe rules what is unseen.
Scripture never asks us to ignore the physical world, it does however, remind us that the physical world is not the whole story.
YAH is Spirit.
He is sovereign over what is seen and what is unseen, over the heavens and earth, over the visible and the invisible. Nothing exists outside of His authority.
That perspective should change how we understand life's struggles— It is not to dismiss the reality of anxiety, depression, trauma, or mental illness— These are genuine experiences that deserve compassion, wisdom, and, when appropriate, professional care. Scripture never calls us to ignore suffering or pretend it does not exist. It also doesn’t allow us to believe that every struggle can be understood solely through a physical or psychological lens.
It invites us to consider something our culture often overlooks:
What if some of the battles we experience have a spiritual dimension?
Paul writes:
“Because we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against authorities, against the world-rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual matters of wickedness in the heavenlies.”
Paul does not say:
Every illness is caused by a spirit
or…
every hardship is spiritual warfare.
He also refuses to reduce every battle to flesh and blood. Scripture presents a worldview where both physical and spiritual realities exist simultaneously. Ignoring either one leaves us with an incomplete understanding of the world YAH created. The question, then, is not whether unseen realities exist but whether we are willing to let the Word define what those unseen realities are—and who has authority over them.
One insight that challenged my thinking came while reading Finding Quiet by J. P. Moreland. He explores the relationship between the soul, the brain, and our emotions, arguing that misunderstanding how they work together can cause us to interpret our experiences incorrectly. In the book, he quotes Dallas Willard:
"Without an understanding of the soul and the body and their relationship to each other, it is impossible to think deeply and helpfully about spiritual formation… if one does not understand the deep connections between the brain and emotions, one will most likely address anxiety as a purely spiritual or purely psychological issue."
That observation forces us to ask a deeper question:
What does it mean to be human?
If we are nothing more than biological machines, then every thought, emotion and desire must ultimately be explained by chemistry and electrical activity. However, if Scripture is true—that mankind was formed from the dust of the earth and given the breath of life from YAH (Genesis 2:7)—then we are more than bodies.
We are embodied souls.
That means our experiences cannot always be reduced to a single category. When we reduce every struggle to biology alone, we risk treating symptoms while overlooking questions of purpose, identity and the condition of the soul; but when we reduce every struggle to spirituality alone, we can burden people with guilt for conditions that may also involve trauma, grief, or other physical realities that deserve compassionate care.
Scripture never asks us to choose between the body and the soul. It presents a far richer picture of the human person—one where the physical and spiritual are deeply intertwined because both were created by the same Creator.
Recognizing that we live in a spiritual world is not meant to produce fear; it is meant to produce discernment; it reminds us that not every battle can be seen, but neither must every unseen battle be faced alone. There is no contradiction in asking YAH for healing while addressing the physical needs of the body He created.
Faith is not the rejection of wisdom; it is the proper ordering of it.
We seek help, but we remember where our ultimate hope rests. We care for the body without forgetting the soul, and we contend for the soul without neglecting the body. Only then do we begin to see ourselves as Scripture describes us—not as fragmented parts to be treated in isolation, but as whole persons created in the image of Elohim.
Do you believe everything you experience can be explained by what is happening in your brain or body?
Have you ever considered that some struggles may involve more than what is physically measurable?
Do you thine we have become so comfortable explaining everything we can measure that we've forgotten there are realities we cannot?
