If you've lost your home...

Many families are experiencing serious losses, from job layoffs and home foreclosures to Australians who have lost homes because of the bush fires. When this kind of loss is dealt with through prayer, those involved can learn that God, divine Love, is ultimately the source of everything they need. Looking to God first for direction, and with the willingness to serve Him, can open new paths.

The writings of Mary Baker Eddy explain the laws, which show us how to understand that God's care is always practical, including during times of distress. In what she described as the scientific statement of being, she wrote: "All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation…." ("Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," p. 468). Because God is infinite, everything in God's universe must also be infinite. God's spiritual resources bring into our experience whatever we most need for life. Mrs. Eddy also wrote, "Soul [God] has infinite resources with which to bless mankind...." (p. 60). We are never without the Divine's almighty presence.

Considering the eternal and spiritual nature of our abilities and resources, it becomes clear that no material condition exists that can deplete them. We can also gain wisdom in how best to use the good God is giving us.

One large family experienced this divine care when they lost their house, farm, and possessions in a fire during a blizzard. To get help, they had to walk through the blizzard to a farmhouse a half-mile away, in below-zero temperatures.

Later, as they reviewed their situation, a workable solution seemed unlikely. All their possessions, their car, and their income from their farm produce were gone. They were told not to expect to be able to work for about six months. The children were staying with six different families in the town.

This family was accustomed to turning to God in times of trouble, and they asked a Christian Science practitioner to aid them in their prayers. As they prayed, they soon found several Bible stories that told of God's provision for His children. The account of Jesus feeding several thousand people with a small amount of bread and fish was especially intriguing, because after everyone had eaten, there were 12 basketfuls of leftovers! This statement from Science and Health was also very helpful: "To those leaning on the sustaining infinite, to-day is big with blessings" (p. vii).

When more people in the town heard of the family's plight, gifts of money and clothing were provided. A poultry farm nearby came up for sale and it looked like a good business opportunity for the family, but funds to purchase it seemed beyond their means. The funds, however, were given or borrowed, and all the necessary furnishings for an eight-room house and for the needs of the family were provided. They had proved in a practical way the reality of this promise in the Bible, "Prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it" (Mal. 3:10).

In three months, the family moved into their new home, and the children were back in school by spring. The home was more convenient and comfortable than their other one had been. It was also nearer the school so the children could take part in extracurricular activities. Things that were provided were better than they'd had before, and the poultry business earned more income than their previous one. This whole experience resulted in blessing the family.

There's comfort in knowing that no matter what the circumstances, the source of the provision and care that you need is infinite, and it will sustain you through whatever trials you may face.