Preceding one of the most infamous decisions against human rights in recorded history, Pilate asked Christ Jesus if he was fully aware of the impact of the decision that Pilate was going to make. Pilate said, “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above” (John 19:10, 11, New International Version).

Clearly, Jesus did not depend on the decisions of corruptible men to forward his lifework and divine mission. He knew he could appeal to a higher power to control or, if need be, overthrow human judgments and their consequences. He proved this many times. However, in the crucifixion, Jesus allowed Pilate’s decision to go forward because, as Jesus had told his disciples beforehand, he was fulfilling a divinely impelled purpose. And he assured them that, contrary to appearances, they would come to see that there was still divine control.

All of us face situations, large and small, where decisions are being made about us that affect our lives. At a new school or summer camp, a child may be hoping that other kids will decide to like him and not be swayed into being mean-spirited or exclusive. Or the decisions may be career-oriented, and the concerns may be about co-workers or managers making wrong assumptions about us, including concerns about competition, favoritism, ageism, as well as sexual, racial, and cultural biases. It seems that any one of a multitude of things might negatively influence a true appreciation of who we are and what we can do.

Right where important decisions are being made about us, God, Mind, is present and in complete control. 

Once, when I was thinking about the uncertainty and anxiety that can arise when others are making decisions about us, I was drawn to a part of the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. The section is often referred to as the “court trial scene” (see pp. 430–442). It’s an allegory about someone being healed of an illness, and in the allegory Christian Science is portrayed as the patient’s defense attorney, arguing against and defeating negative mental influences that promote disease. 

Although I wasn’t thinking so much about health issues at the time, I thought that others’ decision-making about us can feel a lot like a court trial, where we are being judged on the basis of what’s considered to be evidence, hopefully accurate but sometimes misleading. I was looking for assurances that such decisions are subject to divine power, to divine Truth and Love.

In the allegory, I noticed that initially the individual is completely misjudged, and the decision, or verdict, against him is based entirely on false appearances and preconceived expectations, and that there is no recognition of the man’s true individuality. This kind of judgment, and the negative influences behind it, is characteristic of what the allegory calls “Personal Sense,” which brings the charge against the man in the story.

Personal sense can be defined as a false sense of man as material; whereas, man is in reality the spiritual image and likeness of God. This false view of man is prone to wrong conclusions. It is deceptive; it seems to tell the truth, but it is actually false and entirely foreign to man because it is a material sense of existence and not spiritual. Man in God’s image naturally expresses only what God, divine Mind, knows. 

Personal sense is shaped and conditioned by what the Bible calls the “carnal mind,” or the fleshly, sinful mind, which is separate from and opposed to God. The Apostle Paul tells us: “The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so” (Romans 8:7, New International Version). Jesus said this sinful mind was a liar (see John 8:44).  

Clearly decision-making needs to be protected from this false, personal sense. But how?

In that allegory in Science and Health there is an appeal for justice to divine power, to the “Supreme Court of Spirit.” Here, “the Chief Justice” is entirely benevolent and not at all malicious. In this Court of Spirit, man’s individuality is rightly judged. 

I was particularly interested in the final scene, where the decision is announced and enforced. Personal Sense is silenced and not even allowed a hearing. All the false evidence, all that went into the previous negative decision, is not only proved to be false, but is made to disappear into oblivion—complete nothingness. And the man is set free. He is healed.

All of this became relevant to me. I could see that right where important decisions are being made about us, God, Mind, is present and in complete control. And this complete control of God brings justice by silencing personal sense, the source of all wrong and negative effects; by destroying false beliefs, prejudices, and stereotypes about us; and by enforcing God’s wholly good judgment. I could see how any anxious situation about decisions could impel us to understand more of God’s presence and power.

A friend of mine put these insights into use. A member of this friend’s family was being arraigned in court on charges of assault with bodily injury. As the court case went on for the better part of a year, there was much repentance and reformation on the part of the individual who had been charged. So much so that it proved to be a major turning point for the better in this person’s life—he was a different man. 

The prosecutor, however, was unyielding in his efforts to convict and put a serious mark on the personal record of the accused. Finally, a plea bargain was struck, which was not good for the defendant.  

My friend, throughout the trial, was prayerfully affirming that the divine Mind was in complete control and was governing everyone, including the attorneys, judges, and prosecutors on the case. He had faith that this divine control silences human will and personal sense; destroys false impressions, opinions, selfish motives; and enforces God’s judgment, which is just and merciful.  

On the final day in court, everyone stood for the verdict. The judge indicated that a plea bargain had been reached, and the prosecutor signaled his agreement. Then the judge read a lesser charge that dropped most of the serious charges and their consequences. This was not the previously agreed upon plea bargain that was so negative and extreme. And yet, the prosecutor gave his approval of the lesser charge. And with that, it was all done.  

How did that happen? To my friend, it had been proved that God was indeed in complete control.

I have found it important, as we tend to put an emphasis on how another’s decisions might impact us, to also put an emphasis on our decisions about them. We need to yield to the divine will in our thinking about others and perceive them as God knows them to be, as spiritual, innocent, pure, and true, as distinctly different from what personal sense might be telling us. 

We need to let God, divine Truth, silence the arguments of personal sense in our thinking, correct our false perceptions of others, and allow God’s judgment to rule in our hearts. This kind of spiritual honesty and humility is an important part of putting every aspect of decision-making (our own included) under God’s control.

Sometimes, though, decisions don’t go our way, or at least not the way we want them to go, and the consequences can seem overwhelming. At such times, I have found it immensely helpful to remember this biblical truth: “All things work together for good to them that love God” (Romans 8:28). Simply put, to love God causes all things in our lives to work together for good, even the things that seem negative. With this assurance, we are enabled to move forward, trusting that God’s government will be made evident sooner or later.

God doesn’t govern human affairs just to help us get what we think we want; His law is always governing, and His love for us causes us to recognize that we must surrender human will to God. We all have a spiritually defined purpose that is woven into the very fabric of our being. 

We need to yield to the divine will in our thinking about others and perceive them as God knows them to be.

God’s purpose for us is inescapable, and, as we yield to God, we find His purpose is at work in all the important decisions in our lives. This may mean that we will be told “yes” to some things and “no” to others. God’s governing care never puts us into places or relationships that we are not ready for, or that can hinder the fulfillment of our holy purpose.  

Whether we know it or not, the same divine power so evident in governing Jesus’ life is operating in us, and it causes our lives to conform to God’s plan, revealing that we are the child of God’s constant care. That Paul experienced this is clear from the already quoted passage from Romans and is even clearer when we see what follows that statement: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”  

And then Paul adds a divine, governing rule made evident in the decisions governing his own challenging and rewarding life, and always at work in our lives: “If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:28, 29, 31).