
Christ Jesus taught that God is good. I have learned through the study of Christian Science that good isn’t merely a descriptor for God; but the essence, nature and being of God is actual, concrete good. Taking God’s lead really means to yield to that good - to the divine Good that is God. Turning to infinite unlimited Good to guide can lead to better opportunities than a limited human mind is capable of producing. Why? Because even the best-intentioned human concept has inherent limitations. Trusting God as divine Good, and listening and following God’s guidance can circumvent the fear, doubt, rigidness or personal will that can put an otherwise good idea at risk of failure.
It’s not like God is waiting for us to ask before producing good for us. God’s goodness is ever present – always accessible and available to us. But do we always see the good or feel it? Maybe not. And yet it is there, already in place and waiting for us. Sometimes what is needed is a shift from fear to trust - from a rigid or narrow focus on a question to yielding to the infinite possibilities or answers that are right at hand.
God’s guidance isn’t always a “the writing is on the wall” experience, though it sometimes is. Many times guidance is found as we listen for thoughts of good that come to us from God - what Christian Science teaches to be angel messages – that are discoverable in our own thought. Monitor founder Mary Baker Eddy explained that we can recognize God’s angels or inspired thoughts coming to us by the love they create in our hearts. She wrote, “Oh may you feel this touch – it is not the clasping of hands, nor a loved person present; it is more than this: it is a spiritual idea that lights your path!” It is love that sifts out any limited personal agenda or mere human will.

I can’t speak for everyone, but when I have felt pushed and pulled with the wants and wishes of a personal ego, I haven’t felt loved or loving. Making human plans and setting personal goals has rarely worked out well for me in the long term and often left me disappointed when things didn’t go the way I would have liked. It’s not that the angels haven’t been there. But I have found it hard to hear them when a personal ego has been shouting. It has only been through turning from ego to God to quietly listen for spiritual direction, that I have found a way forward.
I once applied for a position I wanted and wasn’t taken. I wouldn’t say I wasn’t listening for God’s guidance. I was. It was a good job that would be a blessing to many. It was a good idea to apply, but I wasn’t taken. I didn’t see at the time how much I had yet to learn about not pushing my own will to go faster or further than God was leading me. I applied several more times for the same job over the course of many years. And each time the answer was no. Each no, while disappointing, compelled me to appreciate the present good and to develop other opportunities. I learned that I could bloom wherever I was planted.

God’s guidance is a precious thing to seek, and an invaluable thing to find. Divine Good really is our best advocate. God is Love, and divine Love demands the best for us and the best of us. Letting Love take the lead is key to living a life of blessing, and a life of being blessed.