Refocus and refresh

Nose to the grindstone. Haunted by deadlines. Exhausted.

If this grim description applies to you or me, we're likely to have let workloads and time frames press the joy right out of us. But take heart! We can refresh ourselves by changing our focus from time hurdles to the dominion God gives man.

To do this, we need to begin with God - not with the work to be done - acknowledging that God is Spirit and that the true nature of His creation is spiritual, expressing His eternally fresh, unlimited being. Dominion is inherent in even a degree of recognition of spiritual reality. Why? Because we begin to see, and thereby prove, that material restrictions such as fatigue and pressure have no place in the truth of being.

In divine reality, in absolute truth, there just isn't anything except God and His entirely good creation. This theme is stated or implied throughout the Bible, as in Moses' declaration ''The Lord he is God; there is none else beside him.'' n1

n1 Deuternomy 4:35.

In Science and Health with Key to the Scripturesm Mary Baker Eddy n2 says of God: ''He fills all space, and it is impossible to conceive of such omnipresence and individuality except as infinite Spirit or Mind. Hence all is Spirit and spiritual.'' n3

n2 The Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science.

n3 Science and Healthe, p. 331.

Getting a hold on the spiritual facts of man and the universe is the most practical thing we can do. Limitations of time and ability will lessen as we increasingly recognize that man expresses unceasing spiritual vitality and intelligence because, in truth, he's the image of God.

The spiritual facts are opposed by mortal thought, by materialistic views of man. But this opposition, which would weigh us down, has no ultimate authority and no place in God's kingdom. Christ Jesus taught that ''the kingdom of God is within you.'' n4 This kingdom is where man really lives. It's the consciousness of divine Love and Truth and Life, of God's complete and perfect government.

n4 Luke 17:21.

In this kingdom, God's law is the only law. This was the law that supported Christ Jesus in all that he did. And the work he completed was monumental. He proved that divine law supersedes so-called material laws that would doom man to be depleted by the good he does.

Mrs. Eddy urges: ''Let us reassure ourselves with the law of Love. God never punishes man for doing right, for honest labor, or for deeds of kindness, though they expose him to fatigue, cold, heat, contagion.'' n5

n5 Science and Health, p. 384.

As we invoke ''the law of Love,'' we resist the temptation to believe that there is a power beside God, a power that can rob us of vitality. We gain our dominion by seeing weariness and pressure for what they are - no more than temptations to believe that material conditions can take away our God-given buoyancy.

Increasing demands won't burden us if we understand that God's complete control and tender care are forever uninterrupted. In a very real sense there can't be any demands made on us except those that come from Him. His perfect goodness precludes burnout from pressure.

Through prayer we may be led to adjust or share the workload. But whether cooperation from others is part of our answer or not, we can discover our own ability to accomplish more with greater wisdom and love, and in less time. To fill our thought with the spiritual facts of being destroys any imbalance between demands and the ability to fulfill them.

But release from weariness and pressure doesn't come through mental gymnastics. The power of God is our liberator. The power of divine Love is what puts these enemies out of business.

In all we do, our goal is not to promote ourselves but to glorify God. ''Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name,'' n6 the Psalmist sang.

n6 Psalms 29:2.

The wondrous glory of God - His infinite power to express in us more than we are inclined to think possible - comes to light with our dawning perception of spiritual reality. As we give God the glory due Him, we'll do the work He gives us to do - strong and free and filled with joy. DAILY BIBLE VERSE They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. Isaiah 40:31

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