Why should we be grateful for trials? Every trial is essentially a belief of lack; and no one enjoys lack of any kind, be it lack of health, supply, companionship, or any other good thing. Yet the Christian Scientist knows that trials can be steppingstones to spiritual understanding.
What cause for gratitude is furnished us in the Scriptural affirmation (James 1: 17), "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." No variableness! We can trust divine Principle at all times and under all circumstances to produce harmony in all of our human experiences as surely as we can trust the principle of mathematics, when used correctly, to give us the right answer in mathematical calculations. However, whether it is a problem in elementary or in higher mathematics, the rule must be applied in order that the answer may become known to the student.
Christ Jesus did not say that we should hear, read, or believe the truth in order to be free from discord, but he said (John 8:32), "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." The only way to know the truth is to demonstrate it by following in the Way-shower's footsteps. Hence our dear Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, says in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 66), "Trials are proofs of God's care." She explains this earlier in the same paragraph where she states, "Trials teach mortals not to lean on a material staff,—a broken reed, which pierces the heart."
