In my teens I learned to ride horseback. The horse was fitted with an English saddle, so when she trotted I had to post, or rise in the saddle in time with the horse’s gait. Although the instructor kept telling me to just let the horse do the work, to relax and feel the natural rhythm that came from the movement of the horse, I had trouble doing so. I pushed and struggled and heaved, but to no avail.

Then one night I dreamed that I was riding, and in my dream I could feel the effortless flow of the horse and me, moving in perfect unison. It was magnificent. The next day I was eager to try again, and I posted perfectly the first time. From then on, each ride was a joyous event instead of a frustrating struggle. This taught me the futility of pushing to achieve a goal.

Christian Science is sometimes thought to be a self-help cure brought about by the exercise of willpower, which is an action of the human mind. But this is far from the truth.

Mary Baker Eddy writes in the Christian Science textbook, “Christian Science silences human will, quiets fear with Truth and Love, and illustrates the unlabored motion of the divine energy in healing the sick” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 445).

The “unlabored motion” of God, Spirit, is vital to healing sickness. The activity of divine Truth possesses all power to move human thought to a change of base. This change is what heals, bringing a change to our experience. Human willpower is, conversely, a deterrent that interferes with healing.

There is a tendency in human nature to want to take the reins and try to control events and outcomes. This can include the quest for physical healing as well. But when suffering is prolonged and healing delayed, it becomes more apparent that another approach is necessary. A willingness to yield to God and trust His leading is essential. This can seem like a huge hurdle if one is stubbornly insistent on taking control and directing what needs to be healed and how that healing should come about. In fact, this push to “manage” a healing may be exactly what needs to be corrected in thought, as I once found out.

I was suffering from a recurring inflammatory condition that would disappear only to reappear time and again. I’d been working to overcome this through prayer as I’d learned to do in Christian Science. However, my efforts were more intellectual than prayerful. I read the Bible and Mrs. Eddy’s writings, made notes, and spent hours researching healing ideas in these books. I actually took pride in how hard I was working and in the discipline I was showing. But no improvement occurred. 

This went on for months. Meanwhile, the condition grew worse. I was worn out. All that intense effort had gotten me nowhere. I was trying to force healing through human activity and reasoning rather than seeking it in God, Spirit, where no aggressive push is necessary because Spirit is infinite, unceasing Love. What can there be to resist the action of infinite Love? God’s love expresses the unlabored motion of infinite, perfect Mind, and of man as Mind’s, God’s, image.

Finally, I turned humbly and wholeheartedly to God. I became still, receptive, and above all, trustful of God’s willingness and ability to heal me. Moment by moment, I listened quietly to God’s messages of love. It was a yielding, a letting go of human struggling and striving, but not in a fatalistic way. It was more like handing the problem over to a loving parent. Now my attention and effort were turned to being still and listening to and trusting God. 

A statement by Mrs. Eddy was helpful in achieving this. She writes, “The best spiritual type of Christly method for uplifting human thought and imparting divine Truth, is stationary power, stillness, and strength; and when this spiritual ideal is made our own, it becomes the model for human action” (Retrospection and Introspection, p. 93).

This uplifted and calmed me and silenced fear. And right away I began to notice inner changes taking place. Angry reactions grew less frequent, annoyance and irritation abated. I felt the peace of God more deeply. Then, very gently, this statement from Science and Health began repeatedly coming to me: “The physical healing of Christian Science results now, as in Jesus’ time, from the operation of divine Principle, before which sin and disease lose their reality in human consciousness and disappear as naturally and as necessarily as darkness gives place to light and sin to reformation” (p. xi).

I saw that the light of Christ, Truth, was forever dawning in human consciousness and continually spiritualizing thought. And, like the dawn, it was an effortless event, unlabored and peaceful. It supplied unending inspiration. I experienced this and realized that there was no struggle to being God’s reflection, the immediate image of Mind and what Mind is already knowing. I simply needed to discern this, accept it as divine law, and hold to it in thought. 

As I did this, I was able to wholeheartedly affirm that Truth had absolute authority in and control of my consciousness, and therefore my body, which is a manifestation of thought. As I held to this faithfully, all fear and speculation, doubt and discouragement lost their foothold in my thought. I had stopped pushing to “become” spiritual and well and instead rested in the knowledge that I always had been the calm, perfect, spiritual idea of God. 

I was free, and an added blessing was that all the mental and emotional upheaval I had previously felt were gone. My spiritual equilibrium was intact, and gratitude for God welled up in my heart. I was never troubled with this condition again.

Trying to force a healing must be replaced with quiet confidence and full trust in the operation of Truth in consciousness. Yielding to the power of Truth causes us to relinquish the reins—the struggle, pride, and human effort to make something happen—and find comfort and strength in God’s power and willingness to heal. This gives a new, clearer vision of reality, which Truth alone can impart.

Healing never comes through the push of willpower or self-assertiveness. It’s always an awakening, through Christ, Truth, to what we already are as God’s children. Yielding humbly to the dear Father’s goodness and loving care, we find He is always ready to bless His beloved children with unlabored, scientific Christian healing.