God-inspired activity

Many people have doubts about the nature of God and His ability to help in our daily affairs. Some believe that God embodies both good and evil, both love and hate. Others speculate that mankind has been set adrift to fend for itself.

The Comforter, or divine Science (the foundation of Jesus’ teachings and healings), offers a different take on God’s nature and our relationship to Him. In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy defines God as “… the all-knowing, all-seeing, all-acting; all-wise; all-loving …” and as “… omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent Being …” (pp. 587 , 465–466 ).

In reality we, and all mankind, are governed by this all-loving God who is present everywhere. Each of us can trust His ability to govern all activity progressively and harmoniously. The kind of thinking that argues that life and intelligence dwell in matter instead of God, Spirit, may insist that mortals are originators or creators. It may suggest that businesses and related activities are an outgrowth of this material scene. 

From my own experience, however, I’ve found that ultimately, God is the source of all good, and this includes all legitimate activity. Once when I was praying with a Christian Science practitioner about this subject, I felt led to write down these thoughts:

• God governs every activity;
• He initiates the activity;
• He draws each one to it;
• Guides and directs each one in it;
• Governs all circumstances surrounding it;
• And He causes the activity to be satisfactorily fulfilled.

This doesn’t mean that we can just drift through life. Successful business activity often requires appropriate contracts and relationships with customers and clients. Marketing and advertising tools have their rightful uses. But there is a vital spiritual fact to keep in mind in such endeavors: ultimately, God supplies every element necessary for an activity’s operation, and our understanding of God’s law enables us to prove this. 

I have found it helpful to realize that customers or clients in need of help or supply can be guided by the one Mind as described in the Bible: “And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left” (Isaiah 30:21 ).

In my home state of Nevada, legalized gambling has been around for a long time. So I make sure to address in my prayers that no such thing as luck or chance determines successful activity. Science and Health makes the following point: “… we must leave the mortal basis of belief and unite with the one Mind, in order to change the notion of chance to the proper sense of God’s unerring direction and thus bring out harmony” (p. 424 ). 

It follows that successful activity does not derive from being in a lucky place at a lucky time, having a lucky number, or having the good fortune to know an important mortal with “connections.” There are no odds that we must overcome to achieve success. God guides and directs each of us. 

Naturally, in any activity decisions need to be made, and sometimes this process may seem daunting. Doubt or uncertainty about our decisionmaking capabilities must yield, however, to the fact that God, infinite and unerring Mind, guides all His ideas. Explaining how the Father leads and directs, and how we reflect, or express, the divine activity, Christ Jesus stated: “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.” He added that: “I can of mine own self do nothing” (John 5:17 , 30 ), illustrating that it is our job to reflect God, the all-knowing and all-acting.

There are no odds that we must overcome to achieve success. God guides and directs each of us.

In our efforts to manage activity, it may seem at times that a barrier or wall has arisen between us and the appropriate resolution of an issue, thereby causing loss or preventing progress. No wall of frustration or inactivity possesses a legitimate foundation nor does any law of God support it. In the face of such prayer, the barrier either has to crumble before us, or be overcome as we follow the Psalmist’s lead: “By my God have I leaped over a wall” (Psalms 18:29 ). How could God possibly do otherwise? It’s impossible for God to direct or produce a result opposite to His very nature. 

Mortal thoughts, however, would argue otherwise and it is incumbent on us to guard against any notions that might project failure or hardship. One such thought that I have regularly prayed about is the belief of predestination—the notion that a few people will be saved while the majority are destined for eternal damnation. Such a thought would suggest that only a few activities will succeed while the majority will fail or encounter damning frustration.

This false doctrine has no power to harm or hurt our activity when we counter it with the conviction set forth by the author of Science and Health: “This is the doctrine of Christian Science: that divine Love cannot be deprived of its manifestation, or object; …” (p. 304 ).

I well remember the time in 1981 when I was called on to put these ideas to the test. I was finishing my tenure as a law clerk and staff attorney at the Nevada Supreme Court. A friend and I had been planning to start our own law firm, and this seemed like the time to do it, even though the national and local economic picture was troubled and uncertain. Additionally, my wife was staying at home with our first child. Nevertheless, we were guided by our prayers to take the path we had planned.

The first few months were agonizingly slow. Doubt and fear were thoughts I had to address regularly. With humility and gratitude I prayed daily to know that my all-loving Father-Mother God was guiding every step and providing for all our needs. I adopted the following passage as a daily reference, and I still use it today: “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22, 23 ).

As I continued to hold steadfastly to the true concept of activity, the law firm progressed, expanded, and became profitable. Choosing the route of self-employment had an added benefit. It allowed me the flexibility to serve as the Christian Science Committee on Publication for Nevada for many years—a position I doubt I could have fulfilled while working for someone else.

As we discern our spiritual relationship to the ever-present and all-loving Father-Mother God, we all can realize His unerring direction in any activity of our lives. Understanding His complete control, we can rest assured that “he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him” (Job 23:14 ).