In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.
~ Jesus Christ, John 16:33, RSV
The “world” Jesus refers to is material sense. The belief of life in matter. It’s too frequently a place of trial and suffering, sorrow and woe.
“But be of good cheer,” Jesus exclaimed, “I have overcome the world!”
Alleluia! Jesus conquered the world! He demonstrated that we have spiritual individuality with God in Spirit that is never touched by sin, disease, or death.
As we lay claim to the Life in Spirit that Jesus demonstrated, we overcome the world too. We master sin, disease, and fear of death. We leave suffering behind and enter the gates of heaven where harmony and peace reign supreme, and suffering is no more.
Mrs. Eddy speaks of understanding God as the work of eternity. So I like to think of experiencing Love as the joy of the moment. This gives me a taste heaven moment by moment.
When I was First Reader I told my dear Second reader that if the sentence beginning Trials are proofs of God’s care came up in the lesson that I would not read it….would get a sub for that Sunday. Funny thing , it never came up in the 2 years I was reading.
I felt that I had had enough trials.
This Spirit View reminded me that I was no longer afraid to read this phrase. I am thankful for this growth.
I have tried to write in more detail how this has come about.
I’ll let the sweet angel thoughts be your own discerning.
Bless you Margaret Thank you for sharing. An example of God’s tender nurturing.
A dear practitioner said of that statement – think of a trial as being a PROOF OF GODS CARE – WONDERFUL to think of these proofs of His care being ever with us so we have nothing to fear
Thanks.
Dear Margaret, I am sure you now know that if we have a trial to face, it is not a trial
given to us by God who loves us, but a challenge that would try to make us believe
there is some other power to produce a trial. Christian Science enables us to know
that when we have a trial, God, divine Love is right there with us to deliver us from it,
and so we needn’t fear these trials, because they have no divine authority behind them
or to make them real.. As we turn to God, and find His help right with us,
and we find release from the trial, we go up higher in the understanding of what Evan so
beautifully writes above. Eventually, as we continue to put our trust in God,
all the trials will eventually disappear, and as Evan says, we will leave all the suffering behind.
Maggie thank you for this explanation. It is lovely!
Thank you Margaret and Maggie for addressing this. I have grappled (as I’m sure many of us have) with that statement of Mrs. Eddy of trials being proofs of God’s care. I was thinking about it the other day and my current understanding is that when we appear to have a trial it is an opportunity to see proof of God’s care and love for us as we turn to Him and humbly ask for help to see the reality of the situation as He sees it and knows it, not as error presents it.
Some people say that God puts obstacles and challenges before us to help us grow. But would a loving parent intentionally bring pain or difficulty into their child’s life? I don’t believe so. But a parent might use a situation as a “teaching moment.” Still working on this.
Maggie & Rose, wonderfully expressed!
Thank you very dearly Maggie and Rose! your enlightening explanations are very very helpful and appreciated! 🙂
Maggie a perfect response Made everything clearer
Spiritual lessons learned in God’s classroom brings us to claiming our God given authority and dominion. The challenge[s] cease and desist when we learn that imperfection is ignorance of perfection. Improvement occurs when spiritual understanding of reality grows, but the underlying reality is always perfection.
I have been challenged with “Trials are proof of Gods care” also. Up until yesterday, when I heard a practitioner say, and I’m paraphrasing, “What is on trial here but mortal mind?…. and God is always the victor.” That, combined with what I heard last year from another practitioner, “No one is guilty of mortal mind.” I love the feeling of gentleness, allowing, and freedom this brings me, for myself and others. ❤️
Wonderful , Beverly -I love that sense of mortal mind being on trial – not us ! and God , good is always the victor PROOVING that there is only the supremacy and dominion of God’s love .
I don’t often comment but I so appreciate these daily SV’s and the comments with healings, ideas, gratitude and sharing! They always start my day out right and I’m so grateful!! Todays SV compelled me to finally share something I’ve appreciated about this passage—Many years ago, I looked up this word “trial” and in reading the definitions, it came to me that a trial is just an opportunity to present evidence for proof. So whenever I read this passage or think about it, I consider the evidence—,putting it to the “test for proof”— is it real, a fact, Spiritual? Or is it a false suggestion of matter and mortal mind the facts destroy?
thanks very helpful
Diane thanks for sharing your definition of ‘trial’ and how you apply it to Mrs. Eddy’s statement. It’s interesting how different shades of meaning of the same word can completely change our understanding.
I love this thought! It gives a whole new perspective on what we consider trials to be. A trial then is an opportunity to prove what is true about perfection rather than a struggle to overcome something bad that seems real.
Thanks Diane. I love this thought! It gives a whole new perspective on what we consider trials to be. A trial then is an opportunity to prove what is true about perfection rather than a struggle to overcome something bad that seems real.
I always like to think of it as “trials prove God’s care” meaning through them we see God’s care. Not that He is sending them but that He is caring for us right through them and proving that they have no power. X
John 16:33; “I have told you these things so that in me you may have perfect peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer – take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted! For I have overcome the world. I HAVE DEPRIVED IT OF POWER TO HARM YOU AND HAVE CONQUERED IT FOR YOU.” (Amplified Classic Bible translation- I put the last bit in all caps)). Yay!
It’s enlightening sometimes to go to Bible Gateway and put in the words or verse you want in the search bar, and THEN, click on the “see this verse in all Bible translations”. They don’t actually have ALL English translations, but they will display a couple dozen different ones. It can be enlightening!
I like to pair this verse with the one where Jesus says “It is finished,” (John 19:30). His work is done, and now he works in us, – inexhaustibly!
Carolyn , that is so good – where can the Bible Gateway be found ? Is it in the concordance ?
I was listening to some type of audio program on JSHOnline and the speaker was telling about when he was riding his bike and was hit by a car. The person speaking is a practitioner and he treated himself for the injury he suffered when he was hit by the car but he called another practitioner and asked that person to give him treatment for “trauma”. I thought that was interesting and thought about that and it made me aware that sometimes we can face a “trial” and we pray to realize the truth that makes the discordant situation (trial) unreal and we experience what we call healing (i.e., the discord disappears and we find the harmony that was there all along). But in my experience, even when the healing occurs, there can remain an unhealed sense of “trauma” for having experienced the discord temporarily. So I’m trying to be more alert to that and do specific praying to realize God’s idea, man, can never be separated from God and therefore can never experience any trauma. My true individuality in Christ “is never for an instant deprived of the light and might of intelligence and Life.” (S&H p215)
Here’s a link to an article on the topic of overcoming trauma. I’ll see if I can find the audio program I mentioned above and post that if I can find it.
Find freedom from past trauma
https://journal.christianscience.com/shared/view/dvucz2lisa?s=e
Here’s a link to the audio program I mentioned in my comment.
Reacting negatively, or responding with prayer? – Program 528
https://sentinel.christianscience.com/shared/view/jxgikba8xm?s=e
Your declaration, Evan, “We leave suffering behind and enter the
gates of heaven where harmony and peace reign supreme, and
suffering is no more” … brings me in thought to a beautiful garden,
through the gate of only good, where all individual flowers, blend
together like a wonderful symphony, so wonderfully in tune
with each other, there is no discord and only peace. (It’s a little
more pleasant than just going into a closet.) lol
And your saying “Alleluia!” brought to mind a dear friend who has
passed on who used to say that all of the time. She was of a
different religion but had an aura around her, as she was so
spiritually minded and just beamed with this lovely beatific
presence of God, as I would imagine Mrs. Eddy did also. Both
lovely role models and their angelic messages are still with us.
Carol,I love your description of entering into the gates of heaven – where individual flowers
blend together like a wonderful symphony. That is beautiful. I always find peace and
harmony and beauty in the garden and it is a place where `I find that peace and feel
the presence of God more readily.
Thank you, Maggie. There are garden plaques
that echo your lovely sentiment that say,
“The kiss of the sun for pardon
The song of the birds for mirth
One is nearer to God’s heart
In a garden
Than any place else on earth”
~ Dorothy Frances Gurney
(& as a sidebar when I looked up that quote so
I got the wording correct) … I had seen this
other great thought:
“We can complain because rose bushes have
thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have
roses” ~ Abraham Lincoln
I love the quote and article about flowers
you mentioned below, too, J, Thank you.
“When faced with suffering, be a healer” by Evan Mehlenbacher:
https://journal.christianscience.com/shared/view/7zijq0xorg
Thank you Evan, excellent article! Wonderful comments too everyone.
The beautiful picture above reminds me of this quote: “Flowers are symbols of beautiful, pure thoughts of the one Mind, God. They are reminders to acknowledge the one infinite Mind controlling all in perfect harmony. When we perceive beauty and purity even in a flower, we are perceiving something of the Christ.” Hilda Mabel Sayers article: https://sentinel.christianscience.com/shared/view/1fasjpq2ezk
I got it the first time. Thank you. Thank you all for these wonderful thoughts on the subject. and thank you Evan for this post.
A wonderful message. Thank you! It is so freeing to face the day with these thoughts.
In the July 1, 2015 SpiritView titled “Look for the blessing amidst trials” Brian made a comment that has helped me in understanding what Mrs. Eddy meant in writing “Trials are proofs of God’s care.” Brian clarified the word used is “proofs,” not “proof.” He wrote: “Proofs in math or logic are a means of proving a statement based on already proven principles or theorems. Based on this idea, I now interpret this statement from Science and Health as follows: ‘Trials are experiences in which we realize a greater sense of God’s care for us by applying the truths we have already proven about God and His idea to another facet of our experience.’”
Thank you, Brian, for this uplifting thought.
Your comment Ward made me look up the July 1, 2015 SpiritView. Evan’s blog post that day mentions “looking for the blessing in the midst of the trial” and that really stood out to me as something I often forget to do. So in case others fall into that same trap, I thought I’d share a link so you can read Evan’s excellent blog about trials. And thank you Ward for remembering this blog post and commenting on it.
https://spiritview.net/look-blessing-amidst-trial/
Thank you Evan
Thank you all for being such spiritual teachers, as I face a challenge of physical loss. Your abundance of treatments to reverse that loss has brought me more healing thoughts, so WE SHALL OVERCOME with healing. You are all great teachers. Humbly thankful.
Thank you Evan. Thank you all. It’s been very inspiring. We glorify God when a challenge is overcome. We also make progress as we understand the truth about a lie.
Thank you dearly, Evan for today’s SpiritView; I feel very blessed by the wonderful Truth you impart to us all!
Wow thanks all for these lively and inspiring commentations today! Love to all!!♡♡
Thanks a lot for the refreshing Spring blossom Foto!♡♡♡
If the trial is a proof of God’s care, what is the healing proof of?
Here’s a quote from S&H that answers your question Mark.
The proofs of Truth, Life, and Love, which Jesus gave by casting out error and healing the sick,…
Here’s a link to this in S&H:
https://www.christianscience.com/the-christian-science-pastor/science-and-health/chapter-ii-atonement-and-eucharist?citation=SH%2041:14-41:18
Thank you Evan. I have this beautiful anchoring thought for the day – I AM reflecting my spiritual individuality with God in Spirit that is never touched by sin, disease, or death.