Wednesday, January 3, 2007 at 12:12am
Beating the New Year blues
Column: Bluebonnet
Are you beginning the New Year with confidence and expectation or with dread and trepidation?
Year after year, humanity struggles with wrenching challenges — war, terrorist acts, kidnappings, tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes, fires, floods. The list goes on and on. It surely does not make for a happy new year to start it with worries about what catastrophe will happen next in the world or in your own life.
I've been preoccupied lately with uncertainties in my life and anticipation of unwelcome changes in the future.
Recently I came across a statement of promise written by Mary Baker Eddy in her book "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures": "The divine Love, which made harmless the poisonous viper, which delivered men from the boiling oil, from the fiery furnace, from the jaws of the lion, can heal the sick in every age and triumph over sin and death."
These words prompted me to read again one of my favorite biblical stories about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego when King Nebuchadnezzar ordered them cast into a fiery furnace for disobeying his orders. (Daniel Chapter 3)
I've always been in such awe of this account — how even though they were bound and thrown into this fiery furnace, their lives were not destroyed. In fact, not only did they survive, the Bible says, "There was no smell of smoke on them."
And they were not alone "walking in the midst of the fire." When the king peered into the furnace, he saw four men and said the fourth was "like the son of God."
When I discussed this with a friend, she pointed out that they didn't have to be pulled out of the fire to be saved. They were saved while in the midst of the fire. Pondering this biblical story has brought me reassurance. It's very comforting to know that no matter what situation I may face in the year ahead, the Christ presence will be with me, caring for me, protecting me, nurturing me, and strengthening me. And I know this is true for everyone, too.
This reassurance is increasing my confidence in a loving and all-powerful God who can conquer evil in whatever form it may appear. And it encourages me to view this year through His eyes — giving me a different view from that of doom and gloom, illness and death. God's vision is only that of the perfection and goodness He made.
Whether His children are walking in a fiery furnace or walking peacefully by the seaside, He beholds only His beloved children whom He will always care for. His sight never wearies or dims. His perception never changes. Such a view is helping me replace the New Year blues with expectancy for a new year of progress, restoration and healing.
— — —
Annette Bridges is a free-lance writer and lives on a north Texas ranch with her husband, John. For the past 25 years, she has been a student of Christian Science, the method of healing explained in Mary Baker Eddy's book "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures." Visit her website and participate in her blog at AnnetteBridges.com and send her an email at {email annettebridges@gmail.com}annettebridges@gmail.com{/email}. © copyright 2007 by Annette Bridges
Year after year, humanity struggles with wrenching challenges — war, terrorist acts, kidnappings, tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes, fires, floods. The list goes on and on. It surely does not make for a happy new year to start it with worries about what catastrophe will happen next in the world or in your own life.
I've been preoccupied lately with uncertainties in my life and anticipation of unwelcome changes in the future.
Recently I came across a statement of promise written by Mary Baker Eddy in her book "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures": "The divine Love, which made harmless the poisonous viper, which delivered men from the boiling oil, from the fiery furnace, from the jaws of the lion, can heal the sick in every age and triumph over sin and death."
These words prompted me to read again one of my favorite biblical stories about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego when King Nebuchadnezzar ordered them cast into a fiery furnace for disobeying his orders. (Daniel Chapter 3)
I've always been in such awe of this account — how even though they were bound and thrown into this fiery furnace, their lives were not destroyed. In fact, not only did they survive, the Bible says, "There was no smell of smoke on them."
And they were not alone "walking in the midst of the fire." When the king peered into the furnace, he saw four men and said the fourth was "like the son of God."
When I discussed this with a friend, she pointed out that they didn't have to be pulled out of the fire to be saved. They were saved while in the midst of the fire. Pondering this biblical story has brought me reassurance. It's very comforting to know that no matter what situation I may face in the year ahead, the Christ presence will be with me, caring for me, protecting me, nurturing me, and strengthening me. And I know this is true for everyone, too.
This reassurance is increasing my confidence in a loving and all-powerful God who can conquer evil in whatever form it may appear. And it encourages me to view this year through His eyes — giving me a different view from that of doom and gloom, illness and death. God's vision is only that of the perfection and goodness He made.
Whether His children are walking in a fiery furnace or walking peacefully by the seaside, He beholds only His beloved children whom He will always care for. His sight never wearies or dims. His perception never changes. Such a view is helping me replace the New Year blues with expectancy for a new year of progress, restoration and healing.
— — —
Annette Bridges is a free-lance writer and lives on a north Texas ranch with her husband, John. For the past 25 years, she has been a student of Christian Science, the method of healing explained in Mary Baker Eddy's book "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures." Visit her website and participate in her blog at AnnetteBridges.com and send her an email at {email annettebridges@gmail.com}annettebridges@gmail.com{/email}. © copyright 2007 by Annette Bridges