What you want and what you need – there is a big difference between the two.
I had an acquaintance who inherited a large sum of money. She figured all her monetary worries for life were solved, and she would never lack again. Problem was, she did not manage her funds wisely. She spent too much too fast, made poor investments, bought unnecessary items, and failed to plan for her future. Soon, her money was all gone, and she cried poverty. She needed more money, she complained.
Not.
This classic example illustrates the difference between what we want and what we need.
She didn’t need more money first. She needed to gain more wisdom, gratitude, and less selfish motives for living. And these come from God in the form of improved morals and spiritual mindedness. They are found through sincere and consecrated prayer, study and demonstration of spiritual ideals and values.
The human mind asks for what it wants. The divine Mind supplies what we need.
So, if you’re not getting what you think God should be giving, go deeper. Drop your desire for a material outcome, and seek out the spiritual lessons divine Love is offering. Learn those lessons well, and the human need will be met. The outward manifestation will follow of what you understand to be inwardly true.
“Love is not hasty to deliver us from temptation, for Love means that we shall be tried and purified.” Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health, p. 22
“If God loves me, He should give me what I want!” is a frequent protest from people who don’t understand how God works.
The source of confusion is not hard to discern.
On one hand, Christianity preaches a God of Love that watches out for, cares for, and provides for every need. But on the other hand, the world is filled with examples of want, deprivation and lack.
How do the two sync?
They don’t.
This is where Christian Science excels with its explanations of truth.
The material world is not God’s world. Lack, deprivation and want are not the outcome of anything God has ever performed or imagined. They are lies about God’s universe. They are the reverse picture of God’s kingdom. They are the opposite of anything God ever intended or designed.
One then might argue, “If God is all-powerful, then how could this world of lack exist?”
And Christian Science, again, excels above other theories about creation.
It does not exist. It is not what it appears to be. It disappears in a spiritual consciousness of Truth.
And experience proves as such.
The above is a major metaphysical proposition to grapple with and understand. And it is not grasped in one fell swoop. It is learned through experience and practice, and by degrees. But it does explain why many prayers requesting something from God are often not answered. Seeing supply is a matter of having the right perspective, of looking out through the eyes of Truth, rather than getting mentally stuck behind the blinders of mortal belief.
From God’s point of view, we never lack. We are fully supplied with everything we need to be healthy, well and taken care of. That’s the universe God created, and is the universe we live in right now.
Even a casual observance of the events of my life proves that this is true, demonstrably and repeatably. There is a constant temptation to turn away and forget this though! I am so grateful for you, Evan, and the dedicated Christian Science practitioners who keep the lamp burning!
I can’t think of anything that more needs saying than this, Evan.
There is almost a sickness that urges us to buy more and more things – like a sensual pleasure. When we can see through this truly evil temptation there comes a wonderful peace – and the supply that does meet every need (not want).
Thank you Evan. This blog has answered the #1 question as to why some prayers are answered and some are not. My close friend who introduced me to C/S back in 1963, has left it based on that question, and I almost did, but your answer was nudging me not to follow that path and I could not explain why I didn’t give up. This was almost 2 years when the above happened. I have been praying to find a way to encourage my best of all friends to reconsider and return to C/S. When receptivity opens up, I could use this blog of Evan’s
Thank you Evan for the clarity in giving us the Truth, today and always. Each moment I am learning to listen for our Father’s guidance. Admitting that there are instances where I need to be honest with myself and ask God’s help when temptation seems to distract me from what truly is important is something I am aware of. I thank Mary Baker Eddy’s willingness to listen and give to the World the Revelations she received, for TMC and Practioners, Lecturers and Teachers that are constantly demonstrating LOVE with ALL.
“When the getting is for giving, the getting is easy”.
Life is like living in a paper bag. The hole you punch through to give out, is the same hole through which you receive. (better enlarge the giving out)