God never abandons us

When we feel utterly alone and forgotten, God is present to comfort us. Hear what the Bible says: ''Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.'' n1

n1 Psalms 139:7-10.

No matter what ''bed in hell'' we have made for ourselves, no matter how far we feel from goodness and purity, the loving Father is at hand to heal and save if we turn to Him. If we are down, it is not God who has afflicted us. Even though we may have for a time turned our back on Him or locked Him out of our hearts, He has never stopped loving us.

God's eternal will for us is that we be Godlike, in His image, in all the radiant cleanness and goodness of spiritual being. In fact, no one, not even the worst of us, can escape Godlikeness, for the only real being man has is the eternal image of Spirit, God. The sinning, suffering, mortal sense of ourselves is not the real you and I, and never will be. It must pass away.

However long this takes, however many lessons we must learn, however much sin we must atone for, our final destination is not hell or oblivion but heaven and eternal life in Spirit, Soul. How comforting it is to hold to this truth when there seems to be no spiritual light in our life.

A man found himself at the very bottom of the pit, morally and physically. He felt he had once known God, but over the years sin and sensuality had obscured the light of His presence. The man's physical suffering was nothing compared to the mental anguish of feeling cut off from real Life, Truth, and Love, which are what God is.

Like the prodigal in Christ Jesus' parable, the man eventually began his journey back to God, the Father. But it was some time before he got to that joyous point where he consistently felt the Father was with him again. What helped him get through the dark hours when God's presence could not be felt?

It was this passage from a book called Science and Health with Key to the Scripturesm by Mary Baker Eddy: n2 ''In Science man is the offspring of Spirit. The beautiful, good, and pure constitute his ancestry. His origin is not, like that of mortals, in brute instinct, nor does he pass through material conditions prior to reaching intelligence. Spirit is his primitive and ultimate source of being; God is his Father, and Life is the law of his being.'' n3

n2 Mrs. Eddy is the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science.

n3 Science and Health, p. 63.

Whenever he felt overwhelmed by darkness and mental uncleanness, he clung to this passage. Wherever there was a ''his'' in the passage, he mentally substituted ''my.'' What inspiration he gained, knowing that, despite all the mortal evidence, hem was the offspring of Spirit, not the flesh! How purifying it was to feel that ''the beautiful, good, and pure'' were hism real ancestry!

The moral and physical resurrection took several years, but this man has truly been ''born again.'' He has proved in his own life the truth of Jesus' promise to all: ''If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.'' n4 He feels this blessed presence, and it's making him a new man.

n4 John 14:23.

God will do the same for anyone who feels down and out. All that is required is that we honestly seek Him. A broken and contrite heart, a weariness with sin, prepare us for this healing transformation. The truth is that God has never abandoned us, and never will. Divine Love waits patiently. The victory is ultimately His - and ours. DAILY BIBLE VERSE Thus saith the Lord that created thee. . . Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upno thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour. Isaiah 43:1-3