Encouraging Ourselves in God

When David found himself in great distress because of the depredations of his enemies upon him and his people, it is written that he “encouraged himself in the Lord his God.” Probably no more graphic words than these could have been used to express the sense of protection and comfort which comes to one who understands how to turn to God in time of difficulty. The Bible is full of accounts of the manner in which God’s people have sought Him in their need, and never have they failed to receive the required help.

That these people frequently have so soon forgotten His tender mercies and loving-kindness has made no difference in God’s ever abundant provision for their welfare. When they have again looked to Him for some further deliverance, it has always been forthcoming. Christian have marveled much at this never ending readiness of God to bless, whatever may have been the apparent derelictions of those seeking His love and care; for no sooner has one returned to Him with earnestness and sincerity, desiring good at His hand, than its outpouring has been found awaiting him in overflowing measure.

While the true student of Christian Science can never fall short of the great desire to seek God at all times and to prove finally that man dwells continually in the consciousness of His ever-presence, nevertheless to-day most, if not all, Christian Scientists find themselves at times apparently faced with a sense of God’s absence. Then, like David, they rejoice that they too may encourage themselves in the Lord their God; and nothing brings a more joyous sense of security and peace than understanding the reason why.

In “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” (p. 5) Mrs. Eddy writes, “God pours the riches of His love into the understanding and affections, giving us strength according to our day;” and on page 151 she declares, “The divine Mind that made man maintains His own image and likeness.” On page 280 she also states, “God, the Soul of man and of all existence, being perpetual in His own individuality, harmony, and immortality, imparts and perpetuates these qualities in man,—through Mind, not matter.”

In these marvelous statements of our beloved Leader we can certainly find ample reason for encouraging ourselves in God. Are we confronted with an apparent lack of necessary intelligence to solve any problem? There at hand is God unceasingly pouring into our understanding the riches of His love. Do we feel disturbed lest we should not triumph over some error of belief—that in some way we should fail to honor God by not triumphing in His name? There stands the invincible assurance that God “maintains His own image and likeness.” Do sickness and sin, with their myriad supposititious illusions, try to argue presence, power, and reality? There is the all-encouraging truth that since God in His own individuality is eternal, immortal, and harmonious, and is imparting and perpetuating these qualities in man, it inevitably follows that man must eternally and uninterruptedly express these qualities.

When Christian Science thus reveals God as infinite good, thereby exposing the unreality of every claim to a supposititious opposite, it prepares the way for perfect encouragement under all circumstances. There is neither excuse nor opportunity for doubt or lack of courage when one can instantly turn to the truth of the omnipresence of God, good.

Christian Scientists soon learn that there is no satisfaction in clinging to the belief that God knows our difficulties. Were He acquainted with them, there would be no hope of ever freeing ourselves therefrom, since what God knows He must know eternally. Why, from any standpoint, should we desire to cling to the beliefs of evil, which are already causing us so much difficulty? What encouragement could we possibly find in turning to a God to whom evil had entity or was real? Our encouragement is in the all-glorious fact that our God, who is infinite good, is continuously and eternally causing us as His children to reflect every glorious quality.

Let us, then, as Christian Scientists rejoice that we may constantly encourage ourselves with the all-satisfying truth that there cannot be an instant in all of eternity when our God is not causing His children to express every divine quality. This is our savior from all doubt and fear, from all sense of lack and inharmony, from every untoward condition. God’s infinite abundance can never lessen; neither can it cease to be eternal and limitless in its outpouring nature.