There’s a story in the book of Acts that I don’t recall seeing in the Christian Science Bible Lesson. I don’t recall hearing it read during a Wednesday testimony meeting, either. In fact, when I was preparing to write this article, I could find only fleeting references to it in the archives of The Christian Science Journal, Sentinel, and Herald. It’s about a couple who perish and are then buried—not exactly a story most people may be looking for while sitting in the pews. So it seemed strange that I was led to read it in the early morning hours during a difficult personal time, when chills filled my body from head to toe. But it healed me quickly and thoroughly. It spoke to me in a way that, even if Luke (the author of Acts) intended its message to be far different, met my needs very specifically two thousand years later.
In the months since, this experience has helped me understand more completely that the spiritual sense of the Bible is the only message that matters, even—especially!—in narratives that seem dark and troubling. The spiritual sense of the Scriptures is how God speaks to us, and how we can be healed.
As I was shivering that morning and feeling generally troubled about the future, I yearned to feel more of God’s grace. I understand the Bible to be the very Word of God, so I knew His grace would be found there. I opened my Bible and landed on Acts 5. The beginning of the chapter is a brief interlude in a larger account of the apostles, telling of a husband and wife, Ananias and Sapphira, who met with a terrible end after they held back some of the proceeds of a property sale that they claimed they had donated to the church. I wondered how this story could possibly bring healing, since nothing about it matched my situation, but I trusted that God was telling me something important.
