No Need for Fear of the Future

TOO often we find ourselves fearing what the future may bring. Whatever we may fear about the future -- possible dissatisfaction, lack, loneliness, disease, disability -- the way to be free of this fear is to gain a deeper trust in God. In order to be able to trust God, however, we need some understanding of His nature and of our relationship to Him. It would certainly be unwise for anyone to trust his future to a stranger he knew nothing about. And for many people, God is a stranger rather than a divine Father to reverence and love.

It is this God, who is Love, that Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science refers to when she writes, ``God is understandable, knowable, and applicable to every human need.''1

As we begin to know God in this light -- as Spirit and as Love -- fear progressively fades from our consciousness. Fear loses its hold on us as we learn to recognize Love's tender, healing presence. God is man's only real Parent, the one Father-Mother, tenderly caring for each of His children and supplying their every need. He is omnipotent Truth, ever revealing to individual thought those spiritual ideas that bring freedom from fear, including fear of the future.

We can trust God to care for us now and in the future. The Apostle James tells us: ``Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.''2

If we're unsure of the future, understanding more of the changeless nature of God as Principle enables us to expect the good He gives us to be permanent and unchanging as well. God is divine Principle, Love. He is changeless, dependable, ``with whom is no variableness.'' The more we understand God as Love, the less we find to fear in our thoughts about the future.

Christ Jesus taught the importance of faith in God to supply all our needs. He explained for all time the tender love of God and God's willingness to supply man's every need. He counseled his followers in all times, including you and me, ``Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.''3 The Master explained that this kingdom is not some far-off place, not a fulfillment of a promise for the future, but rather God's kingdom is within individual consciousness, now and always.

As we grow in our understanding of God, as we begin to know Him as the one all-good, all-loving creator, we will begin to experience this heavenly kingdom -- the realization that good is natural, ever available, and eternally present.

Could the Bible be any clearer concerning our future and the blessings in store for us? We read: ``Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.''4

In the proportion that we understand and know God, and recognize how applicable this understanding is to every human situation, we will find we have lost any fear of the future. We will be loving God and enjoying the good He has prepared for us, His beloved children.

1The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 238. 2James 1:17. 3Luke 12:32. 4I Corinthians 2:9.

You can find more articles about spiritual healing in the Christian Science Sentinel, a weekly magazine.