Have you ever faced the challenge of looking for a new job? If not, maybe you've had an unexpected expense that put a strain on available funds, or felt anxious as you considered the amount of money needed to pay for a child's college education or for your own retirement. A big discrepancy between supply and demand is something most of us have had to deal with in some form.

In moments of uncertainty about the future, the thought sometimes comes rushing in, "If we could only invest a little more every month," or "If we could only pay off our mortgage," or "If we could only get ahead." The desire to accumulate assets, to save for the proverbial rainy day, is one that understandably permeates modern society. In response to this yearning, students of the Bible and the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy, have found it helpful to be reminded of certain basic Biblical truths. "God is Love," the textbook says, echoing the Scriptures. "Can we ask Him to be more?" And later in the same paragraph it asks: "Do we expect to change perfection? Shall we plead for more at the open fount, which is pouring forth more than we accept?"

The desire to be free from insecurity about one's resources—both present and future—is natural. And we can begin to find an answer to that desire through a better understanding of God's nature as infinite love, as the actual source and sustainer of our being.

The children of Israel had to cultivate trust in the one God as their provider. As they followed Moses on a forty-year trek through the wilderness, one of the primary needs was the assurance of a continuous source of food. The Bible tells us in Exodus that they "murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness" in the belief that they would starve to death. But in response to this fear, God is represented as saying to Moses, "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no." So the children of Israel gathered bread day by day for forty years, just as God had promised. And not only was their hunger satisfied; more important, they learned to depend on God as the certain source of supply.

Several years ago my family and I moved to a new city where we had no professional friends or business contacts. The reason for our move was to enable me to take a position with a particular company. It soon became apparent, however, that the job offer was not from a reputable organization, and so I suddenly found myself opening a new business in a competitive industry with only a modest amount of operating capital.

As bills began to accumulate and the prospect for new business seemed increasingly dim, I found myself considering in minute detail what all the needs of this young business were. It seemed obvious that we needed to increase volume and decrease overhead. We needed someone who was experienced and well "connected" to make sales contacts. We needed either a few large jobs or lots of smaller ones in order to pay the overhead. As our company's many needs were reviewed over and over again, I felt very alone and afraid. Days were filled with anxiety, and nights were often sleepless.

It was under these circumstances that I turned to the Lord's Prayer, given to us by Christ Jesus. The verse within this prayer that seemed to be most appropriate for my situation was "Give us this day our daily bread." The assurance of daily bread appeared quite literally to be my family's greatest need. The spiritual sense of that verse (found in Science and Health) arrested my thought. It reads, "Give us grace for to-day; feed the famished affections."

What is grace? How does grace relate to daily bread? What are "famished affections"? These are the kinds of questions I began to ask myself.

One day I came across the following sentence from the Christian Science textbook: "What we most need is the prayer of fervent desire for growth in grace, expressed in patience, meekness, love, and good deeds." Immediately it dawned on me that my greatest need wasn't for more business, less overhead, valuable business contacts, a few big jobs, or lots of smaller ones. Instead, I began to see that what was needed most was growth in Christian character, impelled by a clearer view of myself as the spiritual likeness of Love, God. It seemed logical that an enlarged understanding of my genuine selfhood as God's likeness would result in a fuller and freer expression of Godlike qualities, including wisdom, meekness, and love. My approach to prayer, then, began to change.

Jesus taught this lesson about our deepest needs when he counseled: "Take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."

Each morning as I prayed the Lord's Prayer with renewed expectation, I began to see more clearly that God is the Father-Mother of us all. He is both man's creator and his sustainer. I began to acknowledge the ever-presence of good, continuously flowing from God with a dependability that knows no fluctuation or limitation. I noted for the first time (and with considerable joy) that Jesus instructed his disciples to pray for "daily" bread. This is consistent with the experience of the children of Israel, who were fed newly each day during their journey through the wilderness.

I began to pray also for a clearer perception of man as the spiritual likeness of God, reflecting His completeness and perfection, expressing His universal love without restriction or qualification. Day by day my search gradually became for a fuller understanding of God's love rather than for material gain.

On three occasions during this period the balance sheet of the business hovered near zero. In each instance, however, new profit-generating jobs immediately came along, often in unexpected ways. Even better, undesirable character traits began to yield to a fuller sense of man's real being. This was clear-cut proof of God's provision for every need.

The material senses portray man as limited, vulnerable. He's often seen as lacking food, shelter, employment, companionship, good health. But this viewpoint doesn't tell us the whole story, or even the true story, because it suggests that man is without God, good.

On the other hand, to understand God as All is to recognize man as included in His allness. It is to know that man is inseparable from omnipresent Love, the Father-Mother of us all. It is to realize that man, as the likeness of God, can't be restricted or limited in any way. It is to affirm the absolute certainty of universal good as available every moment of each day.

As with the children of Israel, there is no promise that our journey Spiritward will be without opportunities to prove the inexhaustible nature of God. But such opportunities impel progress. They deepen our understanding of God and of His unfailing provision.