One night in 2020, I was awakened by a sudden, severe stomach pain that was frightening and persistent. I could not move, and could only lie there. 

As a Christian Scientist, I have been taught to pray—to reach out to God for the understanding needed to be free of anything that would deny my right to perfect health and harmony as God’s child. In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy writes, “Always begin your treatment by allaying the fear of patients” (p. 411). So I began by wholeheartedly reaching out to God for help in allaying any fear regarding this situation. 

The first thought that came to me was that God knew nothing of this physical sense of pain. This initially did not seem helpful to me. I wondered how I could be rescued by God if He did not know that I was in pain. But Psalms 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble,” so I reasoned that God would help me, and that I could rely on this promise.