I submit this step-by-step demonstration of God’s guidance and care for our family in the hope that it will help others see that God hears our prayers and answers them.

In July 2010, our dad passed away. My brother, who had been living in the family home, had been drinking daily for over 40 years and was in the advanced stages of alcoholism. He had not been responsible for his own needs or personal care for years and was dependent on others for grocery shopping, laundry, banking, and housework. We needed to find a place for him to live that supplied full-time care, as the family home was going to be sold. This presented a huge problem because he couldn’t be accepted anywhere unless he was “detoxed” from the alcohol. 

My siblings and I dearly love our brother, but we realized that none of us wanted to live with him and support his habits. His condition affected all of us in a major way and was a daily worry. As the months passed, I debated whether I could live with him, whether to sell the home or not, and whether to fix up the home or sell it as is. The decisions seemed overwhelming at times. Finally, we felt led to hire a contractor to start renovations on the house, although my brother was still living there. 

My sister and I consulted almost every day and shared healing ideas that came to us through our daily prayers and study of the Christian Science Bible Lesson, the writings of Mary Baker Eddy, and the Christian Science periodicals. We knew there had to be an answer to this situation, and we trusted that God would lead us to it.

One of the many statements I leaned on from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures was this: “Love inspires, illumines, designates, and leads the way. Right motives give pinions to thought, and strength and freedom to speech and action.… Wait patiently for divine Love to move upon the waters of mortal mind, and form the perfect concept. Patience must ‘have her perfect work’ ” (Mary Baker Eddy, p. 454).

Each day, following the example Jesus set in healing the man who was possessed by devils, I endeavored to see my brother as “clothed, and in his right mind” (Luke 8:35).

During this time, I followed all the human footsteps I was told to take by government authorities and care workers, the family doctor, social workers, and psychiatrists. For over a year, I spent many an hour on the phone, following leads to find help for my brother. I cannot describe our feelings of frustration and despair as we followed all the right human avenues, but there were no answers. It seemed as though we hit a brick wall everywhere we turned.

Then I remembered a Bible story about a time when a great multitude of enemies came against the children of Israel. The Lord told them, “Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.… Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord” (II Chronicles 20:15, 17). I realized I had been feeling a false sense of responsibility, and when I let that go, the answers we needed began to unfold. 

My sister phoned me one morning very excited and inspired by what she had read in the Bible Lesson that day. She had noticed that in the story of Moses, the child’s mother had placed him in an ark of bulrushes, then left him by the river bank (see Exodus 2:1–10). “Moses’ mother let her baby go, trusting God to take care of him,” my sister said. “We can let our brother go!” 

I went back to those passages in Exodus once more and read, “And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him.” I knew this was God speaking to me. At that moment the false responsibility that had burdened me just melted.

My sister came into town and stayed with me, as did my brother. The first night my brother went to the fridge and asked, “Where is the alcohol?” I told him there was none. He has not had another alcoholic drink since that night, and it has been over a year and a half. 

My sister felt led to make one last phone call to a home where they care for men like my brother. The worker she talked to said, “Bring your brother and his belongings tomorrow.” What a turn of events!

The next day, we drove 40 minutes out of the city and met with the woman who owned the home. She did all the paperwork and accepted our brother. One of the main reasons this seemed like such a “miracle” was that he had to be off drinking for 48 hours, which we were able to report that he was. And contrary to medical predictions, he experienced no withdrawal symptoms.

Shortly after this, the house sold very quickly, and we found a beautiful family home for my brother’s cat. All the needs for home were met.

Words cannot really express the great gratitude I have to God, divine Love, for meeting our needs. My brother, too, is so grateful to be freed of the addiction to alcohol and is happy to have me share this testimony in the Sentinel. 

Sandra Balderston
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada