Often it may not seem easy to stand confidently in the face of stubborn material evidence, serenely certain of God's healing presence. It didn't seem easy for me the first time. I was a high-school senior and suffering miserably with acne. Not only had a Christian Science practitioner and I prayed long and diligently, but it seemed to me that in addition to realizing clearly that I was actually the pure, unblemished idea of divine Love, I had also been healed of every unchristlike trait imaginable! Yet the unsightly condition was still there.
At such times we may be tempted to wonder, as I did, why we don't see tangible proof of the truth we've been knowing so faithfully, especially when we feel in our hearts that healing has come. But the harder it seems to stand with our conviction, the greater is the reward, as I ultimately discovered when the healing was complete.
During that first of many "standing times," I was greatly encouraged by Paul's loving counsel to the Ephesians. "My brethren," he wrote, "be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil....And having done all, to stand."Eph. 6:10, 11, 13. This is assurance that no matter how difficult the challenge, we each can stand, humbly and gratefully resting our case on the absolute conviction of man's oneness with the Father and God's great love for man as His whole, complete, and pure idea. And we can trust that if there is anything else we need to learn, God will reveal it.
