Listening to reports in the news recently about job redundancy and people being laid off during this lockdown period, I was reminded of a time when I faced redundancy, with all the distress and uncertainty this experience often brings.

In the early 1970s I was working in a local real estate office. I had been there for quite a while and was very happy in my work. One day, out of the blue, I was told my position was no longer needed and I was being made redundant. Instinctively, I reached out to God to help me deal with the shock and fear that tried to engulf my thinking. Immediately, these words came clearly to thought: “There is no redundant drop in the cup that our Father permits us” (Mary Baker Eddy, Message to The Mother Church for 1902, p. 19).

I realized that as a child of God, I could never be redundant or useless, and that He is always caring for me and everyone and meeting our every need. I recalled another of Mrs. Eddy’s statements, that God “guides every event of our careers” (Unity of Good, pp. 3–4). That meant I could trust my Father-Mother God to place me where I was most needed. As Christ Jesus’ words assure us, “I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2).