Abandoning pressure-cooker thinking

I woke in the night with an acute sense of irritation because of a home bathroom project that was stalled. And what was even more discouraging, I now had a cold.

Feeling no better by the next morning, I turned to God in prayer for inspiration to calm the irritation. I knew that would be key to solving the stalemate. I have learned this approach to problem-solving through the practice of Christian Science, and it’s available to each of us.

Christian Science teaches that God is Love, and Love is ever present – absolutely everywhere to help in whatever way is needed, whether there’s a physical ailment, emotional upset, or any other issue. Divine Love has created each of us capable of listening for and hearing God’s direction and finding healing, under every circumstance. So I got very quiet and listened. What gently came was this:

Lord, my times are in Thy hand:
All my sanguine hopes have planned,
To Thy wisdom I resign,
And would mold my will to Thine.
(Josiah Conder, alt., “Christian Science Hymnal,” No. 46)

I knew “sanguine” meant optimistic, and I asked myself whether I really wanted to just hand my long-cherished plans over to God. I saw I was slipping into pressure cooker thinking – I was concerned about “my time,” while not taking into account the needs of the contractors.

I prayerfully saw that there was an alternative to putting others under pressure to perform, which was sharing the joy and love I reflect from God. This, I realized, is the real reason I, and all God’s children, exist. As children of God, we are each actually the complete, spiritual expressions of God, good. Because we reflect divine Love, we could never abandon our own Christliness – our emulation of Jesus’ nature – for the sake of mere expedience. Instead, we have the innate ability to yield to God and honor God by reflecting His compassion, patience, and tenderness in our daily life.

This never involves sacrificing anything we truly need, but rather blesses us with solid answers as we need them, as well as the sense of fulfillment and accomplishment found in spiritual living. An attitude of demanding that others do our bidding is not the Godlike way of living that Christ Jesus taught and demonstrated. His was a life of loving service to God and his fellow man, and bringing abundant good to light in the lives of others.

When we recognize God’s effortless, all-pervading harmony and aim to serve Him, we find a perfectly coordinated sense of timing. As we turn to God, Love, to endow us with the grace needed to yield to His plan, we find we are supplied and blessed with the courage and humility to relinquish control of our life to God’s perfect care.

This counsel of St. Paul is an antidote to the egotism underlying willfully rushing and pushing: “In lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others” (Philippians 2:3, 4). Obeying this counsel, I made my decision not to push for my will to be done, but to wait patiently on God’s direction of how and when the work would be accomplished.

Instantly I felt the mental release that comes when human will is thwarted, along with freedom from the disappointment and discouragement such willfulness had occasioned. Even as this took place, the workmen, who before were busy on other projects, began arriving, and the work went forward. I had chosen the higher path and my peace was restored, along with my health, as the cold vanished as well.

When we consider our personal and career goals and endeavors, it’s helpful to resist the temptation to outline time frames. A personal sense of timing can stand in the way of progress, and when our demands are not met we’re susceptible to frustration.

What we think is the best way to move forward may not be right, so we can learn to trust all to God’s loving care. The discoverer of Christian Science wrote, “The ‘divine ear’ is not an auditory nerve. It is the all-hearing and all-knowing Mind, to whom each need of man is always known and by whom it will be supplied” (Mary Baker Eddy, “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” p. 7).

This is very comforting, as we recognize that all that pertains to our real welfare and progress is in the Father’s care, for all are in reality His beloved children.