Divine guidance in business

At one time I found myself deeply in debt. A serious inventory of my thinking revealed where I had neglected to look to spiritual resources, spiritual truths, in relation to my business activities. After I had turned back to God to guide me, however, I was able, step by step, to pay my debts and achieve continuous growth in my field of activity.

What are some of the spiritual truths that can help us with our business? First of all, God exists. He is the supreme, immortal Being, the creative Principle, Spirit - infinite, intelligent Mind. And because He is for us and not against us, we can rightly think of Him as divine, ever-present Love. Discord and injustice are contrary to the nature of Love. They're based on the mistaken premise that we're limited, mortal beings, separate from Love.

Christian Science teaches us to identify ourselves as we truly and ultimately are - not as material personalities housed in material bodies, living apart from our Maker, but as the children of God, expressing His pure spiritual nature, each one of us having his own indispensable place in the divine whole.

We can learn to think of God as our Shepherd. In the book of Isaiah we find the promise ''Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.'' n 1 Correlative to this assurance is the statement by Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, ''Love inspires, illumines, designates, and leads the way.'' n2

n1 Isaiah 30:21.

n2 Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 454.

As we learn to look to our creator for direction, and to love more and more as Christ Jesus loved, we find ideas unfolding to us that will meet our needs. Furthermore, every idea that comes in this fashion has within it the energy to make its own way, command appreciation, and create its own market.

Business, like everything else in our lives, should be seen as belonging to God, under Mind's jurisdiction. It is not an arena for self-glorification and selfish aggrandizement, but for expressing something of the mighty Christ-power that Jesus exemplified; it's an arena for evidencing the qualities and excellence of God, perfect Mind. A hymn says, ''Before Thy ever blazing throne/ We ask no luster of our own.'' n3

n3 Christian Science Hymnal, No. 319.

God is recognized in Christian Science as the power moving everything good - all that really is - forward in perfect order; and we can stick to the spiritual truth that nothing can obstruct that power. There is no reason for impasse and delays in the scientifically Christian sense of business. The Father is continuously pouring His blessings into our laps. Even a small understanding of such a truth opens the proper doors for us, makes our interviews productive, our transactions conclusive, and our supplies adequate.

Sometimes we may feel confused and under pressure in the face of all the conflicting advice that is buzzing around us. But when we refer every decision to the Father's wisdom, the mental atmosphere clears, and we can go forward without fumbling or wasting time.

Personalities and policies may seem to be on a collision course. But again, when we acknowledge God to be our Father and Shepherd, we can recognize that all (ourselves included) are truly of one Mind, and the appropriate solution must inevitably come to light.

Following God's guidance, we run no risk of failure. ''No power can withstand divine Love,'' n4 Mrs. Eddy says. That is a fact. And as we come to trust and understand it, no limited concept can cramp or shackle our business, warp our viewpoint, nullify our capacities, or cause good efforts to abort. With Love as our Shepherd, resentment gives way to compassion, fear to faith, willfulness to wisdom, and tumult to serenity.

n4 Science and Health, p.224.

God's promises of good for His children are kept. ''The Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.'' n5

n5 Deuteronomy 31:8. DAILY BIBLE VERSE Delight thyself...in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. Psalms 37:4, 5