Spiritual resources and our needs
HAVE you ever felt ``up against it,'' unable to pay your way? So many today have to meet this kind of challenge, yet there is an answer. At one time I was endeavoring to maintain a home for my mother and myself on a very inadequate income. What was the answer? Christ Jesus once said, referring to the basic necessities of life, ``Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.''1 Well, my need certainly seemed to be for ``things'' in the form of hard cash! But I also recognized a spiritual need. I had been looking to material means for supply, and these had failed me. When with a humble heart I was ready to turn to God in prayer, my thought was lifted above the material to a more spiritual line of reasoning. Speaking of God as Soul, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, writes, ``Soul has infinite resources with which to bless mankind, and happiness would be more readily attained and would be more secure in our keeping, if sought in Soul.''2
Reasoning that my divine creator was an infinite, all-powerful Deity, and that I was, as the Bible teaches, His beloved image, I saw that I could claim my right to the ``infinite resources'' of Soul. An image must be true to its original, and the true being of each of us is God's expression, His spiritual likeness.
God is Love, and He does not turn out His creation, man, on a kind of endless conveyor belt and then leave him to fend for himself in a hostile, dog-eat-dog kind of existence. God does not abandon His children. Nor does He shower blessings on some while dooming others to poverty. We are all cherished expressions of the divine nature. The more willing we are to be this expression in thought, word, and deed -- to be who we really are -- the more able we are to rise above fearful, limited thinking and recognize ourselves as, in truth, spiritual, always provided for and complete.
Accepting our real identity and striving to live in harmony with it through the expression of such qualities as love, joy, purity, bring the divine law of good to bear on our lives, and we find our circumstances improving. Healing can come into every facet of our experience, whether the need is for provision of some kind, health, better relationships, fulfilling work. If we have sinned, reformation is, of course, essential. But we can go forward confidently in this direction through the understanding that sin of whatever kind is untrue of our real selfhood; therefore it has no inherent power, no basis from which to perpetuate itself. It's a lie about man that cannot stand.
As I prayed along these lines, being willing to see myself as spiritual and not material, I began to have more faith in God's law of provision for His offspring and to overcome the belief in a supposed law of lack. Not long afterward, an answer to our need came in a wonderful way. Coincidence? Certainly not. There is no coincidence in answered prayer.
Each one has a spiritual identity, known and loved by our Father. Christ Jesus knew and proved this in healing the sick and sinning and in feeding multitudes. We have his example to follow, and we can certainly take steps to do so, even if our efforts are modest. God is unlimited, infinite, and we are His children. We have a divine right to prove His love.
1Matthew 6:33. 2Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 60.
You can find more articles like this one in the Christian Science Sentinel, a weekly magazine. DAILY BIBLE VERSE: My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19