Finding our way through trust in God
When obstacles seem overwhelming, turning to God – and trusting – can make all the difference.
Many have read the recent story about a dog named Pipsqueak, who had to be left behind by her owners with a friend because of pandemic travel restrictions. Nevertheless, thanks to family members, friends, and strangers, Pip was able to travel over 10,000 miles during more than four months to eventually be reunited with her owners.
This story is heartwarming in itself, but it also speaks to me of God’s great care for all creation, including each one of us – and of how God gets us where we need to go. Years ago as a single mother moving to a new state, this care of God became very clear to me in my life.
As I drove over a mountain pass with my two little daughters, an unexpected blizzard and the absence of snow tires on my vehicle forced us to find a place to pull over for the evening. There was no one around to help us. However, I had made it a practice to pray when faced with troubling situations. Growing up, I loved listening to Bible stories about characters that were saved from distressing circumstances, such as Noah, Elijah, Paul, and others. To me, the best explanation that sheds light on these remarkable rescues is these three words in First John: “God is love” (4:8).
Mary Baker Eddy, who discovered Christian Science, knew and proved the truth of these words and wrote in her book “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures”: “‘God is Love.’ More than this we cannot ask, higher we cannot look, farther we cannot go” (p. 6). We are each the loved of divine Love. Love is synonymous with Spirit, so as Love’s expressions, we are spiritual. Understanding this and trusting divine Love’s infinite goodness bring great good into our experience.
I pulled my car off of the snowy highway and silently yielded to God’s all-inclusive, unfailing love with an expectancy of good. Immediately I noticed a guest house where we might be able to stay for the night. But the owner said it was closed for the season. Unsure what to do next, I prayed for a minute before heading back to the car. I thought of God’s abundant love and how each of us is an expression of divine Love, and therefore must naturally express God’s loving-kindness to one another. Suddenly, the lodge owner changed her mind and offered us dinner and a room for the night.
By morning the storm was over, and we were on the way to our new home. After our 800-mile drive, we arrived only to find an unfinished house with no plumbing. Later, when I showed up at the school district office for details on the teaching position I’d been promised, the superintendent told me that the individual who hired me had just been fired. Then, when my real estate agent took me to get a home mortgage loan (I had bought the lot but still needed a loan for the house that had been built on it), every bank in the nearby city turned me down.
No habitable house for my family. No employment. No bank loan for the home – just overwhelming obstacles. Prayer was my only source of stability. I didn’t know any of my neighbors, but I loved God and knew that God’s loving compassion was available to all humanity, including my tiny family.
The next day, my real estate agent put us up in an empty condo until the house plumbing was installed. Then he took me to the only bank in our small town. The bank president met with us, and after we talked about how much I loved teaching children and looked forward to starting my career in the community, he said, “We need more people like you in our town” – and then he agreed to give me a loan. Two weeks later a teacher quit, and the superintendent called to hire me and asked if I could start work on Monday.
I was so grateful for the love of God that shined through every act of loving-kindness. This experience proved to me what Science and Health states: “Working and praying with true motives, your Father will open the way” (p. 326).
My girls are now grown up, I have retired from teaching, and I still live in the same home. Looking back today, I’m humbled by the constant evidence of God’s care, guidance, and provision.
Dire circumstances do not determine our lives. Each of us can turn to God, divine Love, for answers to problems and find our way home. Love’s inexhaustible compassion and grace deliver us to our right place at the right time in the right way. If God can do it for Pip and for my family, God can do it for you!
Some more great ideas! To read or listen to a poem in The Christian Science Journal titled “God's love is infinite,” please click through to www.JSH-Online.com. There is no paywall for this content.