A willing heart
Being willing to follow God’s guidance enables us to move forward with freedom and find greater success in our endeavors.
Once, I was considering taking on a new project, which would also initiate a change of lifestyle. Doubts crowded in about my preparedness and ability. Just then a door opened in my thought and the conviction that all God requires is a willing heart stepped in. I went forward with the joy and confidence that God was working with me, and the result was a major success and a blessing, not only for me but also for others.
Mary Baker Eddy included in her Preface for “Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896,” “While no offering can liquidate one’s debt of gratitude to God, the fervent heart and willing hand are not unknown to nor unrewarded by Him” (p. xi). And what she was able to accomplish in her life, including when others her age had already retired, is proof of this.
Willingness to follow God’s leading is not of human origin. It is born of God, divine Love, and is a spiritual quality that bears fruit. As the children of God, beloved and spiritual, we already have this obedient state of thought. God has designed us to hear His messages and respond in a way that blesses not only ourselves but others as well. We see this reality unfold in our lives as we understand that obedience is our true nature and give up the urge to willfully plunge ahead with our own plans.
A question that can help us give up a personal sense of willfulness is: How unselfish is this desire? The human heart wants what it wants, but in Christian Science we learn that the motives and affections of a heart governed by divine Love yearn to bless. Qualities that give an assist along the way are gentleness, which is devoid of human pushing, and receptivity, which is an openness to God’s directing. These guide us, showing us we do possess a willing heart, as well as the strength and courage to take the next step forward. Then we can put aside timidity and doubt and prepare to serve God in the way of His appointing.
But how can we truly know God’s will for us? Christ Jesus continually affirmed his unity with God – in one instance saying, “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30). This was his basis for knowing God’s will. As the reflection, or image, of the all-knowing divine Mind, we know as God knows and are able to discern and follow Love’s leading.
Acknowledging God as the only source of his thoughts and abilities, Jesus knew the Father’s will and humbly followed. And he left his example as a legacy and spiritual map for us to follow. God is the all-acting, supreme initiator of all right action. And as we affirm our oneness with the Father, we see how divine Love is at work unfolding, directing, and accomplishing all that is needed, and we are able to act in accord with the Divine.
If this goal of a willing heart seems too altruistic or unattainable, humility is needed to get ourselves out of the way. The prayer of humility was given to us by Jesus in four simple words in the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy will be done” (Matthew 6:10). Rather than seeing this as an unappetizing, fatalistic approach, we can embrace it as our humble Master did, knowing God’s will is always good, leading to success and progress.
And because God is Love and all-powerful, fear cannot hinder, restrain, or interfere with what He is unfolding in each of us. No arguments of a fictitious mentality, which Christian Science labels mortal mind, can obstruct our way, and this so-called mind must be resisted as unreal and proved to be so.
Nothing can truly keep thought from making progress. Like a bike, designed to move us forward, the law of God always propels us forward to succeed in honest, unselfish endeavors. God is Love and gives us a holy calling, which He initiates, protects, prospers, and sustains.
The Bible encourages, “Whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the Lord” (Exodus 35:5). Today, let’s offer our willing heart – full of childlike trust and grace – to God, divine Love, and let it be a blessing to humankind as well.