IN the sixth chapter of Judges, an account is given of the selection of Gideon to deliver the children of Israel from the Midianites. When the angel of God first approached him, the reaction of Gideon was to question why all these misfortunes had come to the Israelites. He said (verse 13), "Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us?" Gideon then referred to past evidences of God's help to the children of Israel.
If an individual is faced with a similar temptation to ask why a misfortune seems to have come into his experience, it would be well to consider carefully the answer given to Gideon, "The Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?" In other words, Gideon was told to go forward in the confidence that comes from the recognition of the power of God and in the assurance of His continued presence.
When, like Gideon, we are tempted to ask the reason for error, or evil, we should rather devote our thought to the study of the power of God, to the understanding of God's creation, and to the acknowledgment of His presence rather than rehearsing mentally the reasons or conditions of evil that seem to be present. Mrs. Eddy writes in Science and Health (p. 262): "We cannot fathom the nature and quality of God's creation by diving into the shallows of mortal belief. We must reverse our feeble flutterings—our efforts to find life and truth in matter—and rise above the testimony of the material senses, above the mortal to the immortal idea of God."
To the extent that a student of Christian Science succeeds in doing this, he will be able to exclude from thought the temptation to believe that evil in any form can be present. Sickness, lack of supply, inharmonious personal relations, will be eliminated from his experience when he heeds the injunction to "go in this thy might," to go forward in the conviction of the power and presence of God as supreme.
Just as Gideon testified to the power of God, so testimonies of Christian Science healing, given at Wednesday testimony meetings and published in the Christian Science periodicals, are valuable proofs of the power of God in individual experience. As the student accepts the truth of the allness of the power of God, it becomes apparent to him that evil, error, inharmony of any kind, cannot be present and therefore cannot be real. When this truth is thoroughly understood, there is obviously no reason for him to inquire into the origin of error.
As one reads further in the account of Gideon, it becomes clear that although Gideon acknowledged that the power of God had been evident in the past to deliver the children of Israel, he had some doubts that God was present at that moment to aid him and to bring deliverance from oppression. It took several demonstrable signs to prove to Gideon the present availability of supreme power and divine protection.
A student of Christian Science must be alert to realize that although he may acknowledge in a general way that all power, action, cause, and effect are of God, he must also be convinced that these scientific truths are applicable at the present time in his own individual experience. He must have full confidence that the true facts of God's creation, demonstrated by Christ Jesus, the apostles, our Leader, and many of her followers, may also be demonstrated by him. He must realize that in reality he himself is an idea of God, included in God's universe, created in God's image, and therefore manifesting all the qualities bestowed by the Father.
As the occasion approached for the Israelites to achieve liberation from oppression one of the Midianites had an interesting dream which Gideon overheard. In this dream, a cake of barley bread overturned a tent of the Midianites. This barley bread was interpreted by another Midianite as "nothing else save the sword of Gideon" (Judg. 7:14). Later, with this sword, Gideon led a small band of men with trumpets and lamps, and the Midianites either fled or were destroyed.
A careful study of the elements of thought leading to Gideon's victory indicates several important points to consider. One is Gideon's acknowledgment of the presence of God. Another is the action of the barley bread, or sword of Truth, which was really Gideon's understanding of the power of God. Therefore may we not infer that the basis of Gideon's strength and courage to face the apparently overwhelming force of evil lay in his acknowledgment of God, which thereby enabled him to go forward?
Such a conviction is the opposite of rehearsing to oneself the evidences of mortal belief or of trying to find a reason for or an explanation of the origin of error. On the contrary, it is based on an individual's understanding of the presence of God and of the allness of His power. Great help in arriving at this conviction comes from one's accepting the evident proofs of God's care that may be found in the Bible, in Mrs. Eddy's writings, and in the Christian Science periodicals.
One student of Christian Science has found consistently in his experience that as he has ceased to reason about error, to ask why some misfortune seems to be present, but has rather turned thought to the allness of God and the nothingness of evil, like Gideon he has been able to obey God's Word, to "go in this thy might," and evidences of inharmony have disappeared.
Another important element in Gideon's victory may also be noted. As he and his small group of followers approached the camp of the Midianites, they blew their trumpets, uncovered their lamps, and proclaimed (Judg. 7:20), "The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon." In Science and Health, Mrs. Eddy states (p. 474), "Truth destroys falsity and error, for light and darkness cannot dwell together."
When the student seeks to gain deliverance from evil, he must proclaim the power of God, hold the lamp of Truth aloft, and thus destroy the darkness of error. To achieve this victory, there cannot be in his thought any questioning of the origin or reality of error. Rather, he should blot out any mental arguments about the origin of evil and fill thought with a conviction of the power of God, which will establish order and harmony in his experience.
When the disciples asked Jesus why a certain blind man had been born blind, the Master rejected speculation as to the source of evil and replied (John 9:3), "Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him." Thus Jesus turned thought to the acknowledgment of the glory of God, thereby destroying error. Like the Master, each individual should accept every occasion as an opportunity for the works of God to be manifested in his experience.
In "No and Yes," Mrs. Eddy writes (pp. 24, 25): "As there is none beside Him, and He is all good, there can be no evil. Simply uttering this great thought is not enough! We must live it, until God becomes the All and Only of our being."
