"God is love," ^{I John 4:8.} we are assured. Yet this truth becomes evident only as we let God guide every phase of our lives. Human reasoning, by its very nature, is based on a limited outlook and tends to distrust God's plan of abundant good for His children.

This was illustrated in the attitude of the spies sent out by Moses. When they returned from a forty-day search throughout the land of Canaan they told him, "We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it." ^{Num. 13:27.} (Among other fruits, they had brought back a cluster of grapes so heavy that two men were necessary to carry it!) In view of this promising report, did the children of Israel go and possess the land of Canaan then, as they apparently could have done?

According to the spies, with the exception of Caleb and Joshua, there were snags: "We saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight." ^{Num. 13:33.} How aptly these words portray what may be, at times, our response to suggestions of ill health, difficult human relationships, insufficient supply—whether these beliefs of life in matter appear in our own or another's experience! Contrast this with the stand taken by Caleb and Joshua. They were confident that the people could conquer the land. Because of his faith and courage, Caleb later obtained and enjoyed his inheritance, and Joshua led his people into the Promised Land.

How, then, are we to face foes to our well-being, happiness, and prosperity?

No error, however formidable its boast of reality, can resist the healing impact of a consciousness imbued with the knowledge that Truth is forever unchallenged. Empowered with the certainty of Truth's supremacy, we can be victorious over inharmony. The Apostle Paul said: "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." ^{Phil. 4:13.} In Science and Health Mrs. Eddy writes, "Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and the prophets caught glorious glimpses of the Messiah, or Christ, which baptized these seers in the divine nature, the essence of Love." ^{Science and Health, p. 333.}

Christ Jesus exemplified perfectly "the divine nature, the essence of Love." The Master's trust in the omnipotence of good enabled him to remain totally unimpressed by the bleak presentations of the senses. His refusal to be intimidated by the threatening situations calling for his divinely enlightened judgment brought about their replacement by the proof of harmony. His was the calm assurance that a loving God could not be the author of sin, disease, death, disturbed elements, or want. These phases of evil, having no more reality than that attributed to them by timorous human thinking, were summarily dismissed and destroyed through Jesus' inspired undauntedness.

How can we, as Jesus' followers, defeat what may appear at times as the "giants" of obdurate sin, chronic sickness, or dire financial need, and so experience regenerated lives, restored health, and abundant supply—the manifestation of the good rightfully belonging to God's children?

A "grasshopper" perspective can only accentuate the belief in an unredeemable sinner or an incurably sick or penniless person. Such perspective has its roots in the erroneous belief that man, contrary to divine revelation, is material; that he acts on his own and has limited capacities. It betrays an ignorance of the ever-available Christ and its beneficent and supportive action.

The man of God's, Spirit's, creating, Christian Science shows, is not subject to adverse circumstance: he is not left to his own devices, having to cope with insuperable difficulties. Because he is the spiritual idea of God, he is untouched by matter. There are no insurmountable problems in the universe of Spirit, since Spirit, being infinite, does not cognize matter or its fearsome manifestations. Repudiating a materially based, belittling outlook, we can take comfort in the scientific knowledge that because God is infinite, omnipresent Soul, there are no giants of discord in God's universe—the only universe there truly is. Integrity and health characterize man, Soul's representative. And we can begin to demonstrate these truths.

What if our first attempts at disclaiming error should not prove entirely successful? Are we to revert to a Lilliputian point of view, resigning ourselves to the so-called superiority of matter over Spirit, of evil over good? In our struggle against discouragement, we can remember that God is Life; therefore man, Life's reflection, is perpetually strong. This understanding provides us with stamina. A humble acceptance and understanding of God as omnipotent Principle is sure to straighten out the situation and restore order and peace.

Joy, gratitude, and expectancy of good are the means of gathering "the fruit of the land" ^{Num. 13:20.} —health, dominion, security—accruing from God's perfect will for His children. God being wholly good, His rule precludes hardship or suffering in His kingdom. The life our heavenly Father has in store for man is a life of infinite good, fulfilling His will. Referring to the dispensation of God through the eternal Christ, Jesus said: "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." ^{John 10:10.}

Instead of yielding to the overwhelming assumptions of the material senses, let us rather turn the tables on error. The following words of Mrs. Eddy's may well inspire us to remain firm on the side of Spirit and its allness and to reject the suggestion of unconquerable difficulty: "And how is man, seen through the lens of Spirit, enlarged, and how counterpoised his origin from dust, and how he presses to his original, never severed from Spirit! O ye who leap disdainfully from this rock of ages, return and plant thy steps in Christ, Truth, 'the stone which the builders rejected'! Then will angels administer grace, do thy errands, and be thy dearest allies." ^{The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 129.}

As Truth's likeness, man is endowed with unlimited capacities. Truth is divine substance, expressed through qualities such as courage, fidelity, integrity. When allowed to govern our thinking, these qualities give us a taste of the kingdom of heaven—the Promised Land. An honest striving to reflect the Christ-spirit will put to flight the giants of fear, immorality, and hatred. It will strengthen our hold on freedom and dominion.

What spiritual power and joy follow the realization that there are no inhospitable territories—illness, sin, deprivation—in God's kingdom, the realm of infinite Mind. "The fruit of the land," the complete dominion that is already man's, gives us mastery over the belief in a power other than good. The divine promise of health, holiness, and satisfaction is then seen as fulfilled. Because God is Mind, what He intends for His creation He also provides. It is therefore our privilege to recognize and claim God's bounty as man's undisputed blessing.

Such recognition awaits our spiritual awakening, coupled with our admission of the insubstantiality of the evidence of the material senses. The intuitions of Soul, when heeded, are our best weapons for defying and conquering mortal testimony and for putting us into the progressive possession of the promised land—the enjoyment of man's heritage of wholeness, perfection, and completeness.