Testimony of Healing October 20, 2003 Issue

Prayer for better housing

Peggy Shuster

For some time, I had been very unhappy in my dark basement apartment. But I felt I could do nothing about moving until some financial obligations were completed. After five years, when those were wrapped up, I was so excited to make a change that I rushed out in search of a house—something I had been dreaming of for so long! I didn't pray or ask God for some direction. I just said, "I'm going out and rent it now. I know what I want. Then, everything will be wonderful!"

It wasn't. I moved into a house, and everything was wrong. I discovered that the yard I'd so wanted was too big and too much work for a single woman. The utilities and other expenses were far too high. The neighborhood was not pleasant—police were always raiding the next-door neighbor for drugs or coming to control loud, screaming domestic disputes or penned-up dogs that were constantly barking. The situation was a total disaster.

I could barely wait for the end of my six months' commitment. As that time neared, I began to look at other options. And at this point, I called a Christian Science practitioner to ask for her supportive prayers about my housing. I poured out my story, telling her I now realized I had approached finding a place to live all wrong and needed to pray this time. She just said, "Stop looking!" When I said I'd given notice and had to find something, she suggested that I read the short prose work No and Yes by Mary Baker Eddy and an article in a current Christian Science Journal that she thought addressed my situation. And, beyond that, she encouraged me: "Get off the track of, 'I've got to search,' and listen for God's direction. He is in control of His own universe. Remember, as the Bible instructs, 'Be still, and know that I am God'" (Ps. 46:10).

Enjoy 1 free Sentinel article or audio program each month, including content from 1898 to today.

Send a comment to the editors
NEXT IN THIS ISSUE
Article
Notices
October 20, 2003
Contents

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit