Patience and purpose

An all-loving, all-powerful Father must certainly give great good to His children. The more deeply we feel that certainty and come to know Him, the more evidence we will see of this infinite good in our life.

How simple that sounds -- and is -- but how often we complicate it with our own plans. We let self-will and impatience in, and they open the door to doubtful methods with unsatisfactory results.

As always, the Bible tells us graphically what to do and what not to do. Look what happened to Rebekah when she got impatient and started trying to arrange things herself.

According to Genesis, Rebekah knew God's intention for her children, yet she resorted to less than divine means to hurry along that intention, with disastrous results.

The Bible says Rebekah heard God promise that the younger of her twin sons would take precedence over the elder. n1 When Isaac, the boys' father, was about to give the traditional blessing to the elder, she contrived to deceive him into giving it to the younger, Jacob, who was her favorite. The result was that Jacob incurred his brother's wrath and had to flee. n2

n1 See Genesis 25:23;

n2 See Genesis 27.

Rebekah knew that God had a "plan" for Jacob; but she got impatient and tried humanly to bring that plan about. While God's intention for her son still came to fruition, the meddling caused by impatience and doubt resulted in much needless suffering.

We can avoid such suffering by doing what the Bible says we should do: "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." n3 We are not told to do nothing. We are told to do something with all our hearts: Trust God. As we actively acknowledge God's allness and power, if there are human steps to take, they will be in God-directed paths. But the secret is to strive to understand God -- patiently wait on Him -- and not start planning how to maneuver humanly the happy results that are natural to expect.

n3 Proverbs 3:5, 6.

When Christ Jesus faced the threat of crucifixion, which he knew to be in line with his mission as the Messiah, he refused to turn for a moment to human means to extricate himself. He trusted the supremacy of spiritual power all the way and emerged triumphant from his tomb after three days.

Mary Baker Eddy n4 writes in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,m "Wait patiently for divine Love to move upon the waters of mortal mind, and form the perfect concept. Patience must 'have her perfect work.'" n5 Again, we are not told to do nothing, but to do something with all our hearts: Wait patiently. Patience includes persistent and unwavering expectancy of good. Patient waiting is an activity for the whole heart.

n4 Mrs. Eddy is the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science;

n5 Science and Health,m p. 454.

If impatience and self-will suggest doubtful means to a good end, remember what Rebekah has taught us. There is a better way. If a loved one is desperately lonely, persistent trust in God, divine Love, and deep effort to comprehend the completeness of all of His ideas, will help unfold His goodness to consciousness. Human efforts to manipulate relationships are so often far from perfect -- although a helping hand can sometimes be just what is needed. The attempt to accumulate money is famous for its enslavement and lack of satisfaction, whether it works or not. Divine Mind's, God's, abundant provision of useful spiritual ideas is true wealth and has been proved to meet every need. Even if it seems we are going through a kind of crucifixion, physical or mental suffering, we can remember what Jesus showed us: that Christlike confidence in the supremacy of God and a deep comprehension of man's immortal nature as God's offspring will reveal the resurrection.

God's plan for each of us is love and life and joy and triumph. We can trust Him all the way. He is omnipotent, expressing in man His infinite wisdom, love, purpose, satisfaction. He is unopposed. He is All. And He loves us. DAILY BIBLE VERSE Let us go on unto perfection. Hebrews 6:1