An Impossible Task?
AS I paced along the shoreline, the crashing waves seemed to echo my early morning thoughts. ``How will I get everything sold? What will I do if things don't sell?'' I was trying to close out a house we had sold. I had come from quite a distance, and had only four days to accomplish the task before returning to my family.
Gently came the thought, ``You came to walk the beach to pray, not to worry. So pray!'' With this reminder, I silenced the mental clamoring and was obedient to the Psalmist's admonition in the Bible: ``Be still, and know that I am God'' (46:10). With the mental stillness came a deep spiritual assurance of God's presence, wisdom, and love. I felt His omnipotence and knew that the task I faced was completely governed by God's law of harmony. There also came an instruction to listen for and respond to creat ive ideas that would show me how to proceed.
I returned to the house and by four that afternoon, with what felt like no effort at all, I had sold virtually everything of value. This relatively minor experience illustrates the divine law that applies to any task before us, from raising children to making wise business decisions or running a government.
Whether we feel personally confident of a course of action or utterly confused, our need is always to let God direct our way, to let His will prevail. This, however, requires silencing all human planning, maneuvering, listing of pros and cons, willful wishing, and fearful fretting. Only when thoughts based on personal opinion and ego are stilled can we truly listen for the God-impelled directions we need to hear. They may be very different from any of the alternatives or outlining the human mind has conc octed, but they will always be accurate and effective.
In Proverbs we read: ``Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths'' (3:5, 6). Christ Jesus demonstrated this rule with unequaled clarity in his earthly mission. One of the most astonishing instances in his career, recorded in Matthew's Gospel (see 14:15-20), was when he fed thousands of people with five loaves of bread and two fish. The disciples were busy speculating on how the task could be done with no food source near by, not much food present, and thousands of people. Their conclusion from this limited perspective was that the task was impossible. But none of this fearful sense even tempted Jesus. He asked to have the available bread and fish brought to him. He blessed it, broke it up, and gave it to the disciples to distribute. All the people were fed, and twelve full baskets of leftovers were gathered up.
Jesus' conviction of God's infinite nature allowed the idea of nourishment to be infinitely manifested. God's answer is always first seen as spiritual ideas. Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer of Christian Science, explains this in her Miscellaneous Writings: ``God gives you His spiritual ideas, and in turn they give you daily supplies'' (p. 307).
While God knows nothing of material circumstances and decisions, He is forever infinitely manifesting His spiritual ideas to His creation. These ideas of peace, wisdom, creativity, guidance, and love cares for the human need with a law of harmony that blesses the human situation in an utterly appropriate way, just as light dispels darkness without knowing anything of darkness.
No matter how daunting the task is that you are facing, you can rest assured there are perfect answers at hand because God is ever present and omnipotent. Our need is to let God guide us. And our obedience to God, divine Love, enables us to see every task through to successful completion.
