I once returned from vacation to my office to find that some problems had accumulated. There were a number of decisions that had to be made, and I found that a feeling of pressure and fatigue was replacing the happiness and refreshment with which I had returned from the holiday with my family.
At the Wednesday evening testimony meeting of our Christian Science Society that week, the First Reader read the passage from the Bible telling how Abraham was tempted to offer his son Isaac as a burnt offering to God (see Genesis 22). Abraham went forward in confident obedience to his best understanding of God and found that this obedience was rewarded both with the continued life of his son and with the higher understanding that God does not destroy but rather sustains the life of man. The Bible account does not suggest that Abraham felt any pressure or fatigue in being obedient to his best understanding of God, even though this obedience at first appeared to involve an extreme sacrifice.
Then I remembered Paul's words (Hebr. 12:1), "Let us lay aside every weight." Also, correlative words of Mrs. Eddy came to thought (Science and Health, p. 55), "And whosoever layeth his earthly all on the altar of divine Science, drinketh of Christ's cup now, and is endued with the spirit and power of Christian healing." I left the service that evening joyously happy and free. The needed decisions were made within a few days and have proved to be sound ones.
