I Thought I was quite secure in my job. I had advanced from salesman to branch manager, to the home office in New York City. Then, after several months, I was fired. No problem, I thought—I had made lots of good contacts in related firms during that time, and I was confident they would be interested in me. Sure enough, I had several promising interviews, but no job offers. Soon I had plenty of time to study the Bible and Science and Health by Mary Baker Eddy, and to paint my house.

The truths in these books led me to feel God's presence—and then to glimpse my own spiritual identity as His child and the unlimited possibilities for my life. "Willingness to become as a little child and to leave the old for the new, renders thought receptive of the advanced idea," writes Mrs. Eddy (Science and Health, pp. 323-324). Also, "Soul has infinite resources with which to bless mankind ..." (ibid., p. 60). It became evident to me that I must turn my gaze in a new direction. I started reading the "help wanted" ads and discovered that a field in which I'd had a longtime interest was advertising for workers. I went for an interview and was hired.

A year later in my new job, I was much happier, much more successful. Ever since, when thinking about this experience, I remember what a disaster it would have been for me if I hadn't been fired! In my case, without something to break me out of the old mold I might not have so readily opened my eyes to a more spiritual view of my work. I would not have been receptive to this great new adventure. Isn't it comforting to know that even if we're asleep to the limitless good God has made available to us, His living presence is always compelling us to awake to His perfect direction?

There have been so many times I have found God to be guiding me in the right path, that I have learned never to be discouraged by any seemingly unwanted turn of events. Even in small matters, such as arranging a meeting, making a needed purchase, or finding the right street, God's guidance is there, if we will only turn to it. If we run into a wall, it may be because we're on the wrong track. So often God has revealed to me a better, more efficient, more intelligent solution to a problem.

Man without God's direction and help is like an electric heater sitting in the middle of the floor with its cord coiled around it. What can it do? Nothing. Plug the cord into a socket and it has the power it needs to do its job. Man's ability and purpose come from the fact that as God's emanation he is forever "plugged into" the infinite intelligence and power of his creator. We should recognize, as Christ Jesus did, that all our capability comes directly from the one Mind, God, our Father.

The Bible indicates many times that man's purpose is to glorify God. If my job today is to sweep floors, I can glorify God while doing it. I can express joy and love whether or not anyone else is around to notice. Once I catch the vision of my true employment—expressing God—I can never lose it or become dissatisfied or unrewarded while working at it.

If our career swerves in a direction we have not contemplated, or even appears to come to a complete stop for a moment, we can guard against fear or confusion by understanding that God is always guiding us in the way of His choosing. In Miscellaneous Writings, Mrs. Eddy writes: "God is responsible for the mission of those whom He has anointed. Those who know no will but His take His hand, and from the night He leads to light" (p. 347).

Unexpected change in our lives can provide a new opportunity to serve God better. After all, how can there be improvement in human affairs without change? Our true employment, our reason for being, is established forever, and we can rejoice that God's plan for man is good alone and that only good is unfolding before us.