During periods of widespread economic difficulties, such as unemployment, increased costs, and decreased incomes, the struggle to meet the expenses of home, food, clothing, let alone the accompanying feeling of insecurity, can be a heavy burden. I know. I've been there! But I found that there is a way to cope with such problems.

The Bible tells of Hagar and her small son, who were sent out into the wilderness with only a little water and bread. The water was soon used up, and she sat down in despair, dreading to see the death of her child. But God opened her eyes, and right there, in that desert place, she found a well of water. Their lives were saved.

The children of Israel wandered for years in the wilderness and were fed with manna and supplied with water. And the Bible tells us their shoes and clothes did not wear out. The children of Israel were often frightened and doubtful, but they gradually learned to trust God more, and the proofs they had of His provision for them brought the courage to keep going.

Christian Science has enabled me to see that such stories are not just interesting Bible history. The lessons they teach have practical applications to the difficulties we may have to face today. Reading such experiences, we find comfort and encouragement as we begin to realize that we can do as these people did: turn in prayer to God, put our trust in His power, have faith in His fatherly love. Then, like them, we will have proof of His loving care.

And today we have something to help us that was not available to those people in Old Testament times. We have the life and example of Christ Jesus and the Science of Christianity, which make plain the reasonable basis for trusting in Spirit, God, to meet our daily needs. Christian Science enables us to understand better the real nature of creation—to understand that God, Spirit, is not the creator of matter; therefore, the substance of His creation is wholly spiritual. An understanding of this fact has proved to be a more powerful factor in determining human experience than the fear and material appearance of poverty. Since all real substance is spiritual, we don't have to plead with God to give us material things. Instead, we need to realize that spiritual substance is ever present, unchanging, and abundantly ours. And the reason we can make such affirmations is that God is all substance, ever present and unchanging, and man expresses Him.

A homely analogy helped me to see the difference between material and spiritual substance a little more clearly. If I have a loaf of bread and you are needing some, I can cut the loaf in two and give you half. If we are hungry, in a short time not a crumb remains! But if I have a spiritual idea and share it with you, you have the whole of it, I still have the whole of it, and we have it for always. And we can both continue to share it with others. Spiritual ideas are infinite; they never get used up.

Perhaps you are thinking, "That may sound all right, but is it really practical?" Isn't an idea the precursor of everything we have, everything we do? In the case of the practical objects around us, someone had to first think of them and then think how to make them. New inventions, new ways of doing things all originate in thought before they take outward form.

So when God gives you His unlimited ideas, His thoughts of intelligence, wisdom, motivation, creativity, these will point the way whereby the need at hand will be met. We may not know just how the Father's love will take care of the situation, but as we are willing and obedient to His directing, we can be confident of seeing the substance of Spirit, of good, being manifested. In her book Miscellaneous Writings, Mrs. Eddy puts it this way: "God gives you His spiritual ideas, and in turn, they give you daily supplies. Never ask for to-morrow: it is enough that divine Love is an ever-present help; and if you wait, never doubting, you will have all you need every moment. What a glorious inheritance is given to us through the understanding of omnipresent Love!"

Suppose a large inheritance had been put in the bank for us. If we didn't know anything about it, it wouldn't benefit us. As soon as we knew it was there, we would have to lay claim to it. But as soon as we did this, we could immediately start to use it and enjoy it.

The Christian Science practitioner who helped me when I began to study Christian Science once said, "Every morning claim your inheritance as the loved child of God." So I did just that in a very simple and childlike fashion. I thought about the goodness of God and what it included, and then I specifically laid claim to that goodness. I mentally claimed the spiritual qualities of peace, harmony, intelligence, health, and strength, and whatever would be required to meet the demands of the day ahead. I prayerfully insisted that these qualities were mine because God expresses and maintains them in His idea, man.

I was beginning to realize that my heavenly Father, divine Love, would never leave me to struggle along on my own but would always take care of all my needs because His love cannot be limited by any material condition—including impoverishment. This was not a blind faith, but a faith supported by what I was learning in Christian Science of the actuality of God's kingdom and goodness. I was getting glimpses of the eternal reality of Spirit and of what that can mean in terms of real substance. I did not resolve the entire problem of supply immediately, but our essential needs were always met.

There was a period when we had only a few coins left at the end of each week after paying for our necessities. I remember saying to my mother, "We're like the children of Israel in the wilderness. We get the manna for each day." Our clothing seemed to last longer too.

One of the lessons learned was the importance of gratitude. Gratitude for the good we have, however small it may seem from a material perspective, liberates and lifts our thought, making us receptive to more good. At one time, when Christ Jesus had over four thousand hungry people to feed and only a few loaves and fishes, he first gave thanks.

He wasn't thanking God for a few puny fish but for the abundance of His care, which Jesus knew would reign supreme over any human circumstance. On another occasion there was a much larger crowd, but Jesus didn't find it any more difficult to feed them than he did the earlier group. When there is a larger demand, there has to be a supply.

Now, don't think that as we worked and prayed through our challenging experiences, life was one long hardship; it wasn't. Our faith, our trust, was being greatly strengthened. And there were many joyous moments. We found that we walked through our days very close to God during such times. Necessary things were frequently provided in surprising and unusual ways, and somehow they seemed extra special to us. We valued them more than if we had obtained them by ordinary means.

We were gradually gaining a more firmly established understanding of supply, based on the substance of Spirit, not matter. Christian Science was enabling us to recognize that God's law of supply, of spiritual substance, is as true today as it was centuries ago. Looking back at those experiences, I can truly say they enriched my life. They enabled me to see that we all have the same unchanging Love, the same Father's tender care for each one of His dear children—the same inheritance of good. We can recognize it, claim it, rejoice in it—and share it.