Most people would probably agree that hard work is usually needed to accomplish goals. But sometimes our best efforts—whether trying to reach a personal best, find healing, or just be at peace—result only in floundering and flailing. When this occurs, an essential ingredient is missing: trust in God. I found a good analogy for this in an experience I had as a child.
I worked so hard at trying to swim but ended up splashing around in a panic and getting water up my nose. So my parents signed me up for swimming lessons, and the first thing the instructor taught me was how to float. She gently rolled me onto my back, placed her hands underneath me, then slowly removed them while standing close by. I found to my amazement that the water was holding me up and that I could float! She assured me that if I ever felt tired or got into trouble or
was afraid while in the water, I could turn over onto my back and just float, letting the water support me. What a wonderful gift—to discover that I always had this capacity. After this, I quickly learned to swim.
Speaking of the great strength found in spiritual peace, Mary Baker Eddy, who discovered Christian Science, wrote, “This strength is like the ocean, able to carry navies, yet yielding to the touch of a finger” (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 121). The lesson I see in this is that spiritual stillness is God-given and God-sustained. God, divine Love, keeps us safe, supplied, and healthy. These are the Father’s gifts to us—there is no need to struggle and strive for them. As the Bible says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (James 1:17). What comfort that provides! We too can be confident that any sense of struggle can be put off and the spiritual gifts of God wholeheartedly embraced and trusted.
This spiritual confidence was clearly evident when Jesus did even more than float on the water—he actually walked on it (see Matthew 14:25–33)! He was so sure that God was always holding him up that he was not afraid of sinking. Peter, one of his disciples, wanted to try, and Jesus invited him, essentially saying “Come on!” And Peter did so, managing to take a few steps. But as Peter realized how strong the waves and the wind were, he started to panic and was sinking until Jesus reached out and lifted him up. Then they climbed into the boat together. It was Christ, the true idea of God that Jesus lived, that enabled him to know that God, divine Love, would always hold him up no matter where he was or what he was doing. And that exact same Love is holding us all up, too.
Christ Jesus taught, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). We are blessed when we know that our need is for God. But sometimes, in our prayers we can get so caught up in trying to bring about a desired outcome that we close ourselves off to the quiet, assured answer that God gives.
One time, I was burdened with a heavy sense of responsibility for a healing outcome. I prayed diligently and studied the Bible and Mrs. Eddy’s writings, yet nothing was happening, and I was sinking deeper and deeper into despair. Then this statement from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures came to me: “Wait patiently for divine Love to move upon the waters of mortal mind, and form the perfect concept” (Mary Baker Eddy, p. 454). This was comforting because I saw I wasn’t really dealing with a stubborn problem but just a false belief.
Then came two simple, precious words from God: “Trust Me.” I knew I could trust God to give me the true concept—to show me what He knows. And as I let my understanding be upheld by divine Love, the answer came: I was not the one who was responsible; God was. Immediately I relaxed. I waited, trusted, “floated.” And the good outcome came in a way that was so beautifully unexpected that I could never have anticipated it.
This is true for everyone. Sometimes we might need to call a Christian Science practitioner to do something similar to what that swimming instructor did for me—support us through prayer until we rest in God’s love. We can mentally flop over on our back and let the arms of divine Love hold us up.
Whenever I feel sick or tired or frightened, I remember the swimming lesson. I stop, quietly let go, and let God hold me up. I can stop splashing around and accept what God created all of us to be: good, well, and loved, resting in Love’s tender comfort.
How well Christ Jesus knew this when he said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). So, learn to float, and rest in God.