Guidance

The teachings of the Bible, as they are lived, enable one to cope successfully with confusion or uncertainty. This book shows in example and law the unfailing direction of God. The prophet Joel said, "The Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel." n1

n1 Joel 3:16.

The discovery of the Science of Christianity by Mary Baker Eddy resulted in her writing the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.m This book enables students of the Bible to understand the Scriptures better and to apply their teachings, including those of Christ Jesus, in their own lives. Science and Healthm tells how we can rely on God for guidance in every area of our lives, because He is divine Love, Principle, and Mind. These are three of the synonyms for God used in Christian Science to convey the nature of spiritual reality. In seeking guidance, turning to God as the source of intelligence, trusting deeply in the fact that He creates man in His faultless image, spiritual and perfect, we are inspired to move in ways we could never outline. And we are also protected from making wrong moves.

The experience of a young woman shows how seeking God's guidance can bring harmony. Her husband had been inducted into the United States Army. Left with a four-year-old child and little money, she moved in with a sister. However, the sister soon announced that she was moving. The young mother couldn't afford to pay the rent on her own, and yet she was reluctant to move again, disrupting her child's first school year.

Wearied with trying to figure things out, she turned to God with deep earnestness, asking for guidance. The nearness of God as divine Love was uppermost in her thought. After praying for some time, she lay down for a nap. A telephone call woke her up. A new friend asked if she was available to do research work on a national product involving her husband's former company. She could choose her own hours to fit in with her daughter's school schedule, and the pay was adequate to cover all expenses until her husband's homecoming.

This evidence of needs being met through reliance on God was to her a profound confirmation of the constancy of divine substance and of the fact that God's law is always present to guide us.

As we strive to be unintimidated by circumstances and to see God's harmony unmoved -- and man with it -- we find our needs met in ways that are appropriate , timely, and satisfying.

Each of us has a key responsibility in seeking God's guidance. It is to examine thought and see that God's law, not human will, not fear, is the governing factor. When we realize this, we have made a beginning that will affect every area of our life. Mrs. Eddy writes, "Having no other gods, turning to no other but the one perfect Mind to guide him, man is the likeness of God, pure and eternal, having that Mind which was also in Christ." n2

n2 Science and Health,m p. 467.

The prophet Isaiah promised, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee." n3 We cant trust in God and find the peace of unfailing guidance.

n3 Isaiah 26:3.

DAILY BIBLE VERSE He fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands. Psalms 78:72