Competence and poise

MOST of us, no matter what our qualifications, ability, or experience, may be given an unusually challenging assignment at some time that causes us to feel anything but adequate and calm. Should we succumb to anxiety and just not do the work? Or can we overcome nervousness and express the intelligence and poise needed to see us through successfully? We can respond to such challenges confidently, seeing them as opportunities for increased spiritual growth. How? By utilizing more fully our inherent, God-bestowed capacity.

Whatever the demands being made on us, we can turn to God, the source of all intelligence and ability, and expect good results. Looking to God for the help we need opens up an entirely different view of the situation and of ourselves. We begin to glimpse something of the true,spiritual man -- the man that the Bible says is God's perfect likeness. Since God,infinite Mind, is obviously never limited,anxious, or inadequate, neither is His reflection, man.

The fear that we may fall short of what is expected of us often comes from ignorance of man's God-given capacities, and this state of thought can be faced as we become more conscious of our true, spiritual identity. In reality, we are not mortal, finite beings who are separated from our divine source. You and I aren't at the mercy of human events or inadequate before special demands. And when we recognize, through spiritual enlightenment, the inseparability of God and man, we find an inner peace and tranquillity. The Apostle Paul summed up man's existence in God, divine Life, when he said, ``In him we live, and move, and have our being.''1 Capability is really a matter of reflecting the divine nature. As we recognize our inseparability from God, we can express more fully the qualities that enable us to do a good job.

Mary Baker Eddy, who discovered and founded Christian Science, writes in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, ``We are all capable of more than we do.''2 In the same book she also says, ``God expresses in man the infinite idea forever developing itself, broadening and rising higher and higher from a boundless basis.''3

This knowledge of man's unity with divine Mind, the governing, creative intelligence of all things, was a help to me several years ago when I was given an exacting job that called for extra competence and calmness. The editor of the newspaper I was working for was on special assignment in a distant country, and he was planning to phone in his story. He had asked that I be ready to take the call. It may seem like a small matter to get anxious about, but my first reaction was, ``I can't possibly do this! I'm not nearly experienced enough.''

However, since there was no way not to accept the responsibility for this assignment, I turned to God for support. I began praying to realize some of the spiritual truths I had learned from my study of Christian Science. ``Since I'm the very expression of God, all-knowing Mind,'' I reasoned, ``nothing can prevent me from having the competency and poise needed to carry out this assignment.''

Everything went smoothly, and this particular story brought out-of-the-ordinary insights to its readers.

Regardless of the demands made on him, Christ Jesus exhibited remarkable readiness. His ability to meet circumstances with dominion must have come from the spiritual understanding he possessed, from his sense of oneness withhis Father, omnipotent divine Mind. As Jesus said, ``The Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.''4

This understanding of God as the source of all intelligence and action, and of man as the expression of this creative power, frees from fears of insufficiency and unrest. It brings to light the Godbestowed abilities that have always belonged to us. Such Christly knowledge is the light in our experience, revealing the competence and poise required for the fulfillment of our tasks.

1Acts 17:28. 2Science and Health, p. 89. 3Ibid., p. 258. 4John 14:10.

You can find more articles like this one in the Christian Science Sentinel, a weekly magazine. DAILY BIBLE VERSE: I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Philippians 4:13