Your brain is a three-pound marvel of pinkish-gray matter, so wonderfully made that only God fully knows how it works. Scientists try to understand it but will never fully be able to, for it is God’s special creation. People are impressed with what computers can do, but the fastest supercomputer in the world cannot match what your brain can do.
Researchers have learned many things about the brain. They know its 86 billion nerve cells are all interconnected. They know that almost every act of your body takes place only after the brain directs it. They know that what your ears hear and eyes see are sent to your brain to interpret and act on. They know that your brain lets the taste buds in your tongue tell you if what you’re eating is sweet, sour or bitter. They know that your brain’s gray matter, which processes things, grows fast around the age of six months, and it is the highest just before you turn six years old. But they also know that important brain connections in the prefrontal cortex aren’t fully developed until your late 20s. (The prefrontal cortex controls things like planning, prioritizing, and making decisions.) After it is fully connected, it starts to slowly decay. After you turn 50, that decay goes faster.
When God created people, He made our brains different and superior to all other creatures. Did you ever see a cow enjoy a beautiful sunset or a horse study a book? Did a monkey ever invent a complex piece of machinery or a hog write a poem? Of course not. Such things are done only by people, whom God made in His own image.
Scientists do understand some of the workings of the brain. They know which parts control many functions of the body. But they cannot explain how a person has a conscience that tells him that he has done something wrong. They cannot explain how people know there is a God, or why they react positively or negatively when they are told about Him.
In other words, although we can see the physical brain, we cannot see or explain the mind. Like our verse says, only God knows the mind, because it is one of the invisible wonders of His creation. It is through the mind that we understand things about God. It is only a mind enlightened by God that can understand what we read in God’s book, the Bible.
When we think of God knowing everything that comes into our mind, as our opening verse says, it could make us very uncomfortable! This is because we are sinners. Thankfully, 1 Timothy 1:1515This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. (1 Timothy 1:15) tells us that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”
Did You Know?
The human brain has about 86 billion nerve cells.
Messages of God’s Love 7/6/2025