Category: Future/stability/security

God’s “pruning” of our lives

Published on by lindseybiggs3 Comments


When I first started gardening the idea of pruning was intimidating to me. How do you know where to prune? Doesn’t it hurt the bush or tree?

Now, I’m amazed at how pruning works. It’s like saying, “Nope, that’s a dead-end ” and the shrub or tree will then grow in a new way. It doesn’t stop or limit growth because new growth is always happening.

God works a similar way in our lives. God lovingly shows us where the dead-end roads are in life so that we can avoid wasting energy going that way. These dead-end roads consist of materiality – material living and thinking – such as a love of money, looking to material possessions for satisfaction, looking to a human being to complete us, looking to a human body to tell us how happy and healthy we are, and comparing ourselves with others to determine how successful we are. These are just a few but there are many dead-end roads we may discover.

Christ Jesus advised, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14 NIV)

When you prune a shrub, you are helping the shrub to fulfill its purpose. You probably planted the shrub for a reason: to help create privacy or to cover something unattractive or just to have something lively and pretty to enjoy. Whatever the reason is, pruning – and starting early on – will help the plant grow into something beautiful and useful.

God’s pruning of our thought takes a way thoughts and desires that would be harmful to us and others so that we can have productive, beautiful and useful thoughts. These thoughts are then expressed in right actions and exemplified in our lives.

Work…does it have to be laborious?

Published on by lindseybiggsLeave a comment


The word “work” often has a negative connotation when one is thinking about something they have to do or a job they need to go to. It may be prefaced with “ugh” or some other deliberation.

Actually, our “work” is something that is natural to us – glorifying and expressing God! There isn’t any labor or heaviness associated with this. In fact, expressing God’s qualities – joy, compassion, creativity, grace, love, wisdom – actually gives us energy! I’m sure we’ve all experienced instances of this whether you’re an artist, business person or stay-at-home parent; it’s when you get that moment of clarity – a new insight or solution to a problem – and a burst of energy comes with it.

Expressing God, consciously embodying spiritual qualities in thought and acting on them throughout the day, gives us renewal and clarity.

So let’s not think of work as anything but expressing and glorifying God. This comes so naturally and easily to us. It will make our day invigorated with energy and hope and we will come across many opportunities to give to others.

Mary Baker Eddy writes, “Constant toil, deprivations, exposures, and all untoward conditions, if without sin, can be experienced with out suffering. Whatever it is your duty to do, you can do without harm to yourself.”

“You say, ‘Toil fatigues me.’ But what is this me? Is it muscle or mind? Which is tired and so speaks? Without mind, could the muscles be tired?…You do not say a wheel is fatigued; and yet the body is as material as the wheel. If it were not for what the human mind says of the body, the body, like the inanimate wheel, would never be weary. The consciousness of Truth rests us more than hours of repose in unconsciousness.”

Christ Jesus says,

“Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith!” Luke 12:27-28 NIV

It is worry and fretting which make us tired. Fearing a mentally projected outcome makes a project/job daunting.

However, we rest on God’s law of harmony. Harmony is a natural activity; it fills all space and governs all things regardless of background, age, gender, etc. We don’t have to make harmony go into effect. It always is. The law of harmony enforces itself.

So whether you are working on a project or some other task, you can go forward knowing that you already have everything you need. God’s spiritual qualities that you express are adequate for any situation you will find yourself in.

“…those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.”  Isaiah 40:31 NKJV

Resentment

Published on by lindseybiggs2 Comments


Resentment is subtle. It’s not full-blown anger or hatred. We can still communicate with someone, even live with someone, while feeling resentful. Resentment feels like a tarnished penny that you find on the ground. It still has value and functions but it is tainted by the world.

We can uproot resentment in our thinking! And then we can feel like a shiny penny with joy, love, compassion and vitality.

Here’s one way I did this:

A couple of weeks ago I was feeling resentful. I felt like I was being put upon by someone else and that weren’t being compassionate and considerate of my feelings and the things that I needed. This resentment was a sort of “poor me” attitude and a self-justification on why I had the “right” to feel this way. And everything I did came with a burden – tasks that had been completed suddenly came unraveled, annoyance and discontent were manifesting throughout my household, and my thoughts and outlook on life had gotten bitter.

This went on for a couple of days until I knew that I had to pray about it. Feelings such as these do not come from God and so they are lies, something that we don’t need to be deceived by; and we can conquer the deception of these lies through prayer.

As I prayed, I saw that God really is the one Mind; and this Mind (a synonym for God in Christian Science) is governing and controlling every aspect of our being with perfect intelligence. There isn’t my will, a my family member’s will or a co-worker or church member’s will. There is only God’s will. Everything is governed and controlled by God with divine intelligence, fairness, compassion, mercy and love. And God’s guidance blesses everyone!

I had to be willing to see the good in this situation – all the ways that I was blessed because of it including ways that I was growing and things I was learning. I knew that I couldn’t be left out of what God was doing. If God was blessing others, then I was being blessed, too.

“What is it that harms you? Can height, or depth, or any other creature separate you from the Love that is omnipresent good, — that blesses infinitely one and all?” (Mary Baker Eddy’s Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896)

With this realization, all resentment melted away. This time in my life became extremely valuable. My household became smooth and harmonious again; tasks were completed in a timely way, and I felt the joy and promise of good again. I learned a lot; I grew in compassion; I feel more at peace; and I know that I am and everyone else is always included in God’s love and blessings.