During a turbulent and quite frightening period in my life when I was struggling with a problem which, while not personal in focus, was very troublesome, I began to ask myself why such a challenge had come. And I found great help in a Bible account included in the Lesson-Sermon from the Christian Science Quarterly. It was the account of Christ Jesus' walking on the sea to his disciples during a severe storm. The particular Gospel cited was John (6:15-21), but Matthew (14:22-33) and Mark (6:45-51) also include descriptions of this event in the Lord's ministry. I was deeply impressed by that narrative; and pondering it, I found that I was able to view the challenges from a more spiritual perspective, which brought great comfort to my heart.
It is easy to believe that a life lived in obedience and service to God ought to be happy and harmonious. Indeed, one does increasingly express those and related qualities when one claims in consciousness the reality of spiritual existence, wherein is no challenge to the omnipresence and omnipotence of God, good. But the human scene is never completely tranquil. This is in part because of the world's hatred of Truth and in part because of the individual reluctance to stand for Truth against the tide of popular opinion and the incessant claims of a selfhood separate from God—always seeking pleasure, ease, and amusement.
As a study of Bible history and of the events in the life of Mrs. Eddy will attest, an easy human experience is not characteristic of great religious leaders or of deeply spiritual thinkers. Joseph, Moses, Paul, and Christ Jesus himself— each underwent periods of severe testing. Accordingly, the great tradition of faith to which we are all heirs does not promise us a life without troubles. But it certainly does make other promises: first, that those troubles will not destroy us if we stand firm with God; second, that eventually they will yield up a blessing, as in the experience of the patriarch Jacob (see Gen., chaps. 32-33); and third, that as we are forced to examine our lives and priorities and lay aside what is not essential in the face of crisis, we will thereby discover more of our true spiritual identity and experience regeneration and new life.
