By Elaina Simpson, C.S.
Pic from @DoveandOliveLeaf Anyone thinking about supply? Rent, bills, debt, jobs? No matter what is on thought, in the study of Christian Science we find that prayer helps us witness God's supply all around. Finding a spiritual view of supply in prayer helps one handle any belief of lack in our thinking across the board (anything in our thinking suggesting the contrary to the above bible quote). A spiritual view of supply blesses our whole experience as we witness supply in health, in goodness, in joy, in God-like qualities, peace, abundance, knowledge, patience, love, grace, meekness...etc. Thanks for being here this evening!
Instead of praying to get supply (as if we have to tell omnipotent God what to do and how to do it), we learn in Christian Science that we can shift our perspective-- To see that spiritually, we already have an infinite supply of all Good things. The Bible story of the widower and Elisha demonstrates this point. When a widow faced debt and her sons were going to be taken and made slaves, Elisha helped shift her perspective. He turned her thought away from what she didn't have, to what she did have. He asked her, "What do you have...?" (II Kings 4:2) She only had a little oil. She was told to pour the oil into vessels and to sell it to pay off her debt. The oil to her surprise, overflowed and her issue resolved. That simple idea of supply that God gave Elisha healed an apparently dire situation.
Mary Baker Eddy's words encapsulate the essence of this important lesson: "God gives you His spiritual ideas, and in turn, they give you daily supplies. Never ask for to-morrow: it is enough that divine Love is an ever-present help; and if you wait, never doubting, you will have all you need every moment. What a glorious inheritance is given to us through the understanding of omnipresent Love! More we cannot ask: more we do not want: more we cannot have."
(Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, 307:1, written by Mary Baker Eddy discoverer and founder of Christian Science)
Just like this Bible story, we find that supply isn't some distant hope that we have to attempt to get or obtain somehow. Supply is a quality of God, so like God, it's ever-present. As God's children, (even in the moments like the widow's where the material picture suggests the opposite), we have the ability to see the spiritual perspective that Elisha saw. That is, our divine inheritance. Eddy writes in her primary writing, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, that spiritual ideas are 'real and tangible.' So we know, that these aren't pie-in-the-sky, pretty ideas, but that they are real and true scientific laws of God, undergirding our whole experience. Elisha witnessed this, and we can too!
(Reference: "Ideas are tangible and real to immortal consciousness, and they have the advantage of being eternal." 279:11–12)
Instead of praying about getting something material like money or praying to have our bills be paid on time, we can shift our focus to God, as Elisha did. Knowing that, "Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need." (494:10–11)
Turning thought completely off of a material problem, Eddy wrote about what we are always supplied with-- That is, spiritual qualities and ideas. In one instance she writes about ‘happiness.’ I also like to mentally replace it with the word ‘abundance’ in its place, since it is also a quality of God. We certainly don’t want to stray far from her original meaning, but I’ve found this quote helpful when considering supply as well. (Since for many happiness and supply can go hand-in-hand, it seems.) The brackets are my own:
"Soul has infinite resources with which to bless mankind, and happiness [abundance] would be more readily attained and would be more secure in our keeping, if sought in Soul. Higher enjoyments alone can satisfy the cravings of immortal man. We cannot circumscribe happiness [abundance] within the limits of personal sense. The senses confer no real enjoyment [abundance]." (60:29) I love that idea of our happiness or our abundance being sought in Soul, God. -- In spiritual sense, not in matter. When it appeared that a fig tree 'withered away,' Jesus' response had nothing to do with the problem. He said, "...have faith." He then spoke about moving the impossible, “mountains” (financial problems can also seem like a "mountain" perhaps), he said, "Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them." (Mark 11:24) Isn't this exactly what we are doing by acknowledging the ever-present supply of God's Love? That’s what Elisha did. He kept his thought on faith, on God’s ever-present supply, what she did have… Instead of trying to prayerfully fix a material problem.
In regards to our uninterrupted oneness with Love (Supply), we see that the same Principle that was there for Elisha is here for us too. I've found that these ideas have really blessed my experience in times of need, so I hope they are helpful to you as well. Praying to see God's supply is something one can do daily. Jesus said, "And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son." (14:13) Seeing our inseparability from Soul, God shows us that it's not about a human mortal praying to work up to feeling God's supply. It's about shifting our perspective, seeing our oneness with divine Love and witnessing God's Love and supply in action! Have a lovely evening,
Elaina
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