Working in a bustling law office for a number of years, I often heard the comment “The devil is in the details,” suggesting that mistakes or chaos are an inevitable part of daily life. Every time I heard this, I would counter it with an immediate mental note: “No, God is in the details!” I knew my colleagues were trying to remind everyone to be alert, but because of my study of Christian Science, I had a different outlook. I had read in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy the following: “God is everywhere, and nothing apart from Him is present or has power” (p. 473). So, if God is everywhere, I reasoned, how can there be a detail outside of God?

The Bible supports the idea of an ever-present and omnipotent God. A psalm announces simply, “The Lord is good” (Psalms 100:5). Christ Jesus was intimately acquainted with Scripture, and was quick to see that there was no source of good besides God. When a man kneeled before Jesus, addressing him as “Good Master,” Jesus replied, “Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God” (Mark 10:17, 18). 

Jesus’ immediate response indicates his own vigilance. He refused to allow a single detail to pass that was not in perfect alignment with the truth about God. The man had come to ask the Master how he could inherit eternal life, but Jesus knew that the answer required a better understanding of what God is, reminding the man that only one is good—God. It appears that Jesus felt impelled to help him see this truth as imperative to understanding eternal life. Putting to work in our own lives the idea that a knowledge of God must precede all questions, actions, or decisions aligns our thinking with the spiritual fact that good is ever present.