“How am I doing?” is a question people ask frequently during any given day.
A self-admirer may look in a mirror to see how beautiful she is, or isn’t. A person feeling a bit under may check his temperature to decide whether he is healthy or not. A household manager paying the bills may count the dollars in his bank account to see if he is rich or poor. There are countless measurements people make to determine their status quo.
But there is only one measurement that should be taken seriously—what God sees!
Jesus Christ proved repeatedly that material evidence can be changed for the better with an understanding of spiritual truth. Lack can be replaced with supply, disease with health and hate with love. What appears to be materially fixed is but a temporal state of the human mind that can be revised and reformed for the better. But to make the change, one has to look beyond the physical evidence to the spiritual reality.
In spiritual reality, we each possess boundless health, stunning beauty, infinite wealth, and meaningful life purpose. These conditions are perceived in Spirit through Mind, not in matter through material sense.
So, if you want to see how well you’re doing today, don’t rest upon the finite testimony of the material senses. Don’t ask mortal mind, “How am I doing?” You’ll often receive a discouraging answer. Go to Truth. Ask God “How am I doing?” and you’ll always get back a positive response, because from God’s point of view, you are in the best position possible.
You are God’s reflection, and God’s reflection is always flourishing. As God’s image, you possess permanent health and unending riches. Spirit is the source, matter is not. There are no limits on how much of God’s goodness you can express, and each day is your opportunity to prove it.
This is something I REALLY need to do. If I don’t hear an answer should I keep knocking? Please God reveal to me how you are causing me to reflect! Is this correct? Thank you very much!
Deeply grateful for this! Thank you so much Evan!
Love this idea of asking God, “How am I doing?”
To ask God “How you’re doing is slightly hypocritical.” We are all the image and likeness of God. We can only be and do what God is being and doing. It’s like the mirrored image of my self asking myself, “How am I doing?”
Do you not see the foolishness of that question?
Hi Tobias,
No, I don’t see the question as foolish. Rhetorical questions can often be valuable teaching tools. They offer a new way of looking at a mental position that maybe could use some shaking up and reformation. It can be helpful at times to think of fresh ways to break thought out of perhaps a tired routine.
I’m not much for commenting but read these often. I really like this one. Thanks.
What a wonderful way to start the day, Evan. Reading and imbibing the Bible Lesson and knowing that only God can reveal to us “how we’re doing.” Thank you for this great day starter!
Unfortunately Tobias, the “How am I doing?” question is a *suggestion* that comes to most people many times a day. So I read this blog to mean…when that suggestion presents itself…answer by knowing what God knows about us instead of answering that suggestion by what the material senses are presenting to us at any point in time.
Evan, I thoroughly enjoyed this blog and all of the blogs this week. There seems to have been a theme of being grateful for the good we know we have spiritually and trusting God! I’ve been focused lately on knowing that God provides what we need WHEN we need it, not necessarily BEFORE we need it. Often I’m tempted to want to know how something will get resolved before I really need to know. But I’ve learned to silence those anxious thoughts by knowing God will reveal the solution at the time it is needed.
Over the past 6 weeks I’ve been involved with helping my parents relocate from a house they’ve lived in for 50 years, cleaning out their house and liquidating a lot of their things, putting their house on the market, etc. During this time the temptation came to me to worry about things that needed to get done a week or two in the future. But I was able to quiet those worried thoughts by just trusting that God would provide what I needed when I needed it. In every case a solution presented itself exactly when I needed it…often in very unexpected ways (i.e. an excellent moving company was found in a very short time, a wonderful apartment became available just when my parents needed to move, a very helpful realtor was recommended to me just when I needed it, an estate sale company was recommended to me in a very unexpected way that has also been wonderful, etc.). I’m so grateful for Christian Science! I’m also very grateful for Mrs. Eddy for her unselfishness in providing Christian Science to the world. I’ve been reading the We Knew Mary Baker Eddy, Vol II book recently and reading that book has reawakened my understanding of what an unselfish and loving person Mrs. Eddy was, and is, (i.e. continues to be through her writings).
Thank you, Evan. This is so applicable to church, and so needed.
It is usually the 1st thing we see, the material picture . It is often really hard to get the spiritual sense of life when we are so bombarded by our material eyes, ears , etc. Resolving things into thoughts is necessary. What does God see ? What does He want me to see?
What a great idea! “How am I doing, God?” And then see myself as God sees me — happy, loved, provided for, healthy. Then, affirm God’s view of me all day long. And finally, give thanks for God’s vision of me. In a nutshell, this is a treatment for myself.
Thanks, Evan!
It reminds me of what Mrs. Eddy says in Science and Health on page 254, “Mortals must look beyond fading, finite forms, if they would gain the true sense of things.” Your statement of it is another way of putting the same ides. Thanks for your fresh ways of looking at these truths.
May I suggest a book that is filled with true stories like Brian’s? “Answer without Ceasing” by Margaret Runbeck. It is out of print, but I just got one, used, through Amazon. Kathleen, thanks for your succinct version of how you’re doing.
This was wonderful, Evan! Thank you!
Evan, I so very much enjoy your blogs. This question made me Smile and laugh because it’s such a great ‘ Wake up ! ‘ question . God is of purer eyes than to behold evil. He is not going to join our pity party. We all know what God is going to say to us, therefore freshly awakened, able to accept and align ones thought once again. Thank you Evan