The United States Internal Revenue Service required me to file a form for an investment I had made years ago. I had a discussion with a court trustee with access to the file, and things seemed to be in order for me to receive it in proper time.
Then the document didn’t arrive. Over many months my calls and emails to the trustee went unreturned. I called everyone connected with the company that I knew, but to no avail. Then, after I contacted some of the other investors who also were due the document, I found out that they were pinning their hopes on my efforts! I considered other options such as hiring an attorney or visiting the trustee (many miles away), but that just seemed like more human flailing, and unlikely to solve the problem. Some might have considered my plight hopeless—stuck between an unresponsive court trustee and a demanding, unsympathetic government agency—but I knew I could pray.
It is my custom to pray about all aspects of my experience, to acknowledge the tangible presence of God in my life. It occurred to me that my problem wasn’t really about obtaining a piece of paper; it was more about the concept of government. Was I truly under the authority of giant faceless bureaucracies, or was I under the control of a loving, omnipotent God? Now, it may seem like a crazy idea to trust prayer in this situation. But through my study of Christian Science, I’ve come to see that even situations that seem so desperate can be harmoniously resolved with a greater trust in God, a deeper understanding of His great love and care for us. It came to my thought very clearly that I didn’t need that document so much as I needed to feel a sense of peace about the situation, a sense that only God was in control.
