A friend of mine was on the middle school soccer team. One weekend the team traveled to an "away" tournament. The tournament was held in a large sports center. Between matches, he and another player went into the pro shop to have a look around. After they left, the other player lifted up his shirt to show my friend a pair of goalie gloves that he had taken from the shop. On the bus trip home, the teammate proudly showed them to others as well.

My friend goes to a Christian Science Sunday School. There, he had learned the Ten Commandments; and he knew well that taking something without paying for it breaks the commandment "Thou shalt not steal" (Ex. 20:15). He felt he knew what this meant as far as his own behavior went, but he wasn't sure what he should do in this situation. This person was the best player on the team, and my friend didn't want to ruin the whole team's record by getting this player into trouble, nor did he want to be considered by his teammates or the coaches as someone who tells on others. No matter how he looked at it, this seemed like a huge dilemma without a clear answer.

When he got home from the tournament, he talked with his mother and asked her what she thought he should do. His mother told him that whenever a person feels unhappy or uncomfortable about anything, he should pray. Prayer that helps us to see more clearly what is true and to act in a way that upholds the Godlike nature of each of us destroys confusion and brings genuine peace and joy. It assures us that God is always present, always giving comfort and every needful thing to His children. His standard, being Love and Truth, is a dependable guide and a source of practical solutions to whatever challenge we are facing.

The Bible tells us that "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble" (Ps. 46:1). We are never alone, never left just to muddle our way through, but rather we are constantly cared for by God. Instead of stewing in a dilemma, we can turn to God for the truth in order to see our way out.

How do we do this? By starting with the truth of God, and then continuing in prayer with the truth about His creation, man, Finding our way out of a dilemma is kind of like working on a puzzle. Instead of starting with a confusing jumble of pieces, we will usually have greater success if we look at the picture of the puzzle completed. With this model in mind, we can work more quickly and surely to solve it.

In this situation, what do you think would be most helpful to know about God? God is a loving, caring, giving Parent. God gives to His children all that they need. That would include all the love and attention they need, as well as the ability to make good and wise choices. God's child naturally responds to and is aware of God's care. God's spiritual idea, man, never doubts His goodness and willingness to give, because he knows God is perfect and never lacks anything. And God's child doesn't lack acceptance or satisfaction or security or honesty or even courage, but already includes all good.

My friend realized that these truths about God and man applied not only to his friend but to himself, too. He could see that God's man could never be fearful in doing good, but would do the right, most loving thing for all.

When God told Moses that he was the one to lead the children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt, Moses at first doubted his ability to do this, and he was concerned about what others might say or think of him. But as he humbly listened to God, he became more obedient and therefore more able to follow God's will. He became a better leader of the people as he became a better follower of God (see Ex., chaps. 3 and 4). Certainly the commandments, which God gave Moses on the Mount, are proof of God's love for all His dear ones. A loving, caring parent doesn't let his or her child go without instruction. A diligent parent watches, guides, protects. And the Commandments are God's instructions to us. Rather than view them, then, as restrictive or confining rules, we can realize that they actually free us to be the children of God's creating—good, pure, and honest. They allow us to be who we really are!

It certainly helped my friend to know that his own obedience and love for goodness would help his teammate, too. Nobody could be left out of God's care, including the man who owned the sporting goods shop. These spiritual truths were comforting, and the fear lessened. My friend decided to call the soccer coach and talk to him in general terms about what had happened. The coach came up with a solution that would help everyone involved, and he told my friend how much he respected him for doing what was right but not necessarily easy. The gloves were returned to the proshop, and the soccer player was disciplined in a constructive way.

There is no dilemma beyond God's help. My friend learned that he could go right to God in prayer for practical solutions. He learned that even those things that you might wish would go away are actually opportunities to stretch spiritually, to rely on God more and to see His care for everyone.