I had arranged to sell a large estate for a client and found a buyer for him. The commission on the sale would have enabled me to put down a deposit on a house of my own. But, to my bewilderment, on closing the transaction, the buyer told the seller I was not responsible for his purchase of the house.

He made this claim despite the fact that the seller had registered letters from me documenting my part in the transaction. The seller left me to resolve the situation with the other agent. None of my friends and colleagues could believe what had happened. When no solution seemed forthcoming, litigation seemed like the only answer.

Was I hurt? Yes! Was I frustrated? Yes! Was I perplexed? Yes!

How could this be happening? I thought I understood that man (meaning all men and women) was made in God's image and likeness, and thus was incapable of dishonesty. I had come to understand man in this light through my study of Christian Science and its textbook, Science and Health.

So although I was still baffled by what had happened, I prayed to understand events from a spiritual perspective. During this period, I kept asking my wife, "Just what is going on here?" In other words, what was the underlying spiritual lesson I needed to learn?

I find it useful to think about instances in the Bible that shed light on a challenging situation. In this case, I thought about the rather chaotic start to Joseph's career. I am sure the last thing Joseph expected, when he went out to see his brothers, was that he would end up a slave in Egypt. He must have done a lot of head-scratching in wonderment as he went through that and subsequent experiences.

However, Joseph always seemed to have a conviction of God's presence, so he never lost his nerve or his trust in God. And he always acted correctly, despite dire temptation. His experiences showed him he could trust God even in the most difficult circumstances.

His trust in God ultimately got him promoted to a position that might today be comparable to that of prime minister of Egypt. This account of Joseph's life helped me gain perspective on what had happened to me.

For years after this incident, my wife and I kept returning to our conviction that every aspect of our lives was subject to God's unerring direction. And we trusted God to show us in a practical way that, whatever the circumstances, the law of good was operating. We could be certain things would work out—and we didn't have to cross-examine Him on the outcome!

One insight in particular that allowed us to stop being concerned over whether I would receive the commission had to do with an increased understanding of spiritual poise, or stability. Mrs. Eddy described where this spiritual poise comes from in The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany: "Christian Science is absolute; it is neither behind the point of perfection nor advancing towards it; it is at this point and must be practised therefrom" (p. 242).

This atmosphere of perfection pervades all things and allowed me to see that true poise comes from knowing that God is in control.

These ideas sustained us as the litigation went on for six years. When the issue was finally settled, I received almost all the funds due to me on the sale. Within a few months, we bought a wonderful home.

A few weeks after moving in, I remember lying awake at night, grateful that the case had finally been resolved, but also curious as to why it had taken so long.

I suddenly realized that changes in the housing market had meant we had been able to buy a much better house than we would have been able to afford six years earlier. And the house was close to our previous home, so there wasn't the need to pull up roots, so to speak. Patience had had its perfect work!

It was a chastening realization. Divine Love had been operating all this time, even though it had seemed nothing was happening. This incident was not about someone being dishonest; it was about seeing how God's law of good is always in operation.

In the years that we were awaiting the resolution of the problem, I had learned to trust God, to have confidence in Him, in a way I hadn't before. This experience was an integral part of putting that trust and confidence into practice. The positive result was a natural part of that process, and it cemented my trust in God.

I also learned the virtue of patience and of letting things unfold in God's own way. This has been an extraordinary blessing, far beyond anything human logic could have dictated.

It's so much fun to see the power of Love guiding and directing us in such circumstances. It was such a tender, loving resolution, which brought so many blessings. I was cured of a habit of always wanting to know what was going on. I realized that I could let go and trust God. God was obviously so much better than I at keeping things on track.

I read in Science and Health, "... the human footsteps leading to perfection are indispensable" (p. 254). Every time I see our house, I feel I was "walked through" this experience with God's care. And the wait was well worth it. css

This article first appeared on www.spirituality.com.