Expectancy of daily good from God

Because of his deep love for God and man, Christ Jesus never missed an opportunity to prove the power of God to care for His creation. With only small supplies he fed multitudes at least twice. He raised the dead more than a couple of times, and he healed countless cases of blindness, deafness, and other physical conditions. 

The grace with which any of us is able to overcome the fear of lack comes to us through following our Master’s standard of faith and fidelity to God. Just as Jesus put his trust in divine Love to provide, we can, too.

Christ purifies, clarifies, and elevates us by turning thought away from seeming material causes or solutions. 

For me, daily prayer is a part of keeping that trust strong and clear. Every day I wake up, pray, and do my chores. I don’t think to myself, “I ate dinner yesterday, so I don’t have to do it again today.” Or, “I did laundry last week; I won’t have to do it again.” The same is true for prayer. Making prayer a regular part of my day renews and deepens my consciousness of my oneness with God as His spiritual idea and enables me to face whatever challenges come.

The human sense of life involves the belief of change—changing circumstances, conditions, and so on. But in the allness of God and His perpetual unfoldment of good, there is no change. Nor does God’s love for His children ever change. Each one is always loved and provided for by divine Love.

I’ve had opportunities to prove this and take such proofs as a kind of spiritual discipline. When I make purchases or pay bills, for example, taking the time to cherish God as both my supply and my supplier is part of my mental housekeeping. 

Daily, I reaffirm that, as the Psalmist put it, “My expectation is from him [God]” (Psalms 62:5). This helps to keep my expectation always on God, not on money, which is only a symbol, or outward manifestation, of supply. 

Each of us is Love’s cherished idea, so it is natural for divine Love to meet our needs. Understanding that supply comes directly from God and maintaining my clarity about this fact is a privilege that keeps me on my “spiritual toes,” so to speak. What I know about God supports each prayer with complete faith in Love’s ability to provide. 

I’ve learned that when supply can be seen as an infinite idea, and not as a way of defining ourselves or others, we are beginning to get dominion over it. Sometimes, however, the need for supply becomes a focal point in our lives. In those situations, Christian Science is a reliable foundation for prayer and healing. This Science gives us a clearer understanding of our relation to God and to His Christ. It also helps us see that spiritual truth is relevant to everyday living. 

The definition of Christ in the Glossary of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy is: “The divine manifestation of God, which comes to the flesh to destroy incarnate error” (p. 583). Isn’t lack a form of incarnate error? If we accept error as a reality, it may be objectified as overdue bills. Under such a circumstance, we may wrongly reason that we need more matter—in the form of money—to meet the need. Lack of employment, a rising cost of living, or a change in circumstances may be seen as a cause of this situation. Fear, lack, and instability may claim to be the result.

Christ, as the spiritual idea of God, is the answer, but Christ is not a person to whom we petition for help. Rather, Christ is the divine manifestation of God. Christ purifies, clarifies, and elevates us by turning thought away from seeming material causes or solutions. Christ brings spiritual understanding, reformation, and revelation. This communion of the human with the divine purifies and clarifies our thoughts so we can understand God better. It also brings healing.

Referring to John’s vision of the Christ as described in the Bible’s book of Revelation, Eddy writes, “John saw the human and divine coincidence, shown in the man Jesus, as divinity embracing humanity in Life and its demonstration,—reducing to human perception and understanding the Life which is God” (Science and Health, p. 561). Christ releases us from matter-based thinking even as it provides divine inspiration, which can guide us out of trouble and free us from suffering. Through this receptivity to Christ, thought is brought into accord with God, and we see God’s infinite provision for us as His beloved idea, man.

Many years ago, income became a major issue for me and my husband because of unexpected circumstances. Creditors were calling almost every day. I prayed to let go of fear and self-justification. As I did this, I was inspired to answer their demands for payment from the honest standpoint of what I understood of truth. Recognizing that God would supply their need (and ours) gave me confidence.                                         

When asked when we would pay them, I said I didn’t know when, but I knew we would. I assured them that we would be able to do it because I had seen other issues resolved through prayer. I had already proved in various ways that I could trust God to point out a solution. 

Christ Jesus not only demonstrated supply through divine law but also taught his followers how they too could meet the human need spiritually. 

When the creditors asked me what I did for a living, I told them I was a Christian Science practitioner. And I found that there was often a natural opportunity to introduce Christian Science to them. They always asked how I knew God would answer my prayers. I would share an example with them of a particular challenge I had prayed about, whether it was dealing with supply, health, or some other situation, and how that need was met.

What was so precious about this was that everyone—and I do mean everyone—listened and found something in their own lives to which they could relate. They often asked if they could share our conversation with a family friend or a relative. It was indeed an example of “divinity embracing humanity.” 

I prayed each day with the Lord’s Prayer, and one part in particular—“Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11). I thought about my daily bread as spiritual inspiration, confidence, appreciation, and gratitude for all the good God was already providing. In Science and Health, Mary Baker Eddy’s spiritual interpretation of this line is, “Give us grace for to-day; feed the famished affections” (p. 17). 

One has only to open the Bible to find examples of how God cared for people in extreme situations. Christ Jesus not only demonstrated supply through divine law but also taught his followers how they too could meet the human need spiritually. When faced with crowds of people who were hungry, Jesus turned directly to God for the food they needed. He didn’t doubt that God was fully ready and willing to sustain them. 

Through this same Christ that Jesus represented, all these centuries later we are still applying the laws of God as we overcome the appearance of lack or despair in our lives. Science and Health explains, “Christ’s Christianity is the chain of scientific being reappearing in all ages, maintaining its obvious correspondence with the Scriptures and uniting all periods in the design of God” (p. 271).

In time every bill was paid. We never had to ask for help, but sometimes help came in unexpected ways and through inspired thoughts that came to us. I only needed to ask God each day what He wanted me to do. 

From this experience, I’ve found that God is the source of every useful idea. Through experience we can prove the reality of supply as spiritual. It rests in God and is supported by Principle, the source of divine law. This is the true basis of provision and protection for all of us.