When all you need is trust

Every time i've felt I've been up against a wall, I've found out the same lesson: God is there. The threat, whatever it is – financial, physical, mental – just can't stand up in the presence of the all-powerful God who is with us always and whom we can trust.

One of these trusting times came when my husband was in his third semester of a four-semester graduate program and we received the bill for the final semester. We were completely out of resources, already working in exchange for free rent, eating meagerly, and deeply in debt. It looked as though we would be unable to complete the very thing we had sacrificed so much to accomplish.

I remember us standing in the kitchen looking at each other and having a brief discussion about trusting God. My husband slid the bill back into the envelope and put it aside. In the following weeks we didn't discuss it again; we were each busy trusting God in our own way.

But what if we feel on occasion that we don't know how to trust God?

Well, I've asked myself, is there any doubt when you see a hammock, how to use it? It needs no "how to" instructions. You instinctively place yourself on it, lean back with hands almost naturally going to the back of your head, and relax, letting the strings suspend you while you swing gently.

That's how I've been thinking about how to trust God. It's natural to us. It reminds me of a favorite Bible verse that speaks to me of God's love for Israel: "His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me" (Song of Solomon 2:6).

It's the way a loving parent holds a precious baby. This was the love I turned to as I prayed about our pending bill. Each day I considered to be God's day. I was conscious of watching for His particular care and being grateful for it. Mary Baker Eddy, founder of this newspaper, opened the preface of her major book, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," with this statement: "To those leaning on the sustaining infinite, to-day is big with blessings."

Without a single solution in sight regarding that bill, I leaned on God, trustingly. I gave up speculation and fear and stood ready for whatever direction and instruction God would provide.

Several weeks passed, and we got an unexpected phone call telling us that some inherited possessions that were in storage had been damaged. An insurance check was on the way. We did not inquire about the amount, but when it arrived just as the school bill was due, it was pennies over the amount we needed to pay. Shortly after that semester, our finances improved and we were able to expediently pay off the debt we'd acquired.

Every problem that surfaces in our lives has an answer. Because God's nature is loving, and He is known by some as the great Giver, we are never without the idea and power and ability we need when we turn to Him in expectation.

Mrs. Eddy wrote in an article called "Angels," "God gives you His spiritual ideas, and in turn, they give you daily supplies. Never ask for to-morrow; it is enough that divine Love is an ever-present help; and if you wait, never doubting, you will have all you need every moment" ("Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896," p. 307).

I've found this to be more than a beautiful promise over the years; I've found it to be a reliable law of God's to lean on.

Thou wilt keep him
in perfect peace,
whose mind is stayed on thee:
because he trusteth in thee.

Isaiah 26:3