Did I dare to apply for the position? As a junior lawyer, I asked myself this question about a job at the law firm where I was doing my training. Over the next two years my fellow junior lawyers and I would be rotating between four different practice areas, and our current task was to apply – and compete – for the limited pool of positions available.
I knew the area of law I was interested in, but I was also afraid to step forward and declare it. There was only one position on offer in that particular area, and I had heard that many of us would be vying for it. What if I took what someone else really wanted – would they lose out? Would they resent me? Or if I got it, what if I failed – what would I do with the disappointment? What would it mean for my career?
It was at this point of turmoil that I came to my senses. My spiritual senses.
I had learned through my study of Christian Science that whenever we are gripped by fear or doubt, we can be sure that those thoughts are not coming from God. God is Love, and as I had read in the Bible, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear” (I John 4:18).
I was keen to move forward feeling at peace, and to do so hand in hand with my heavenly Father-Mother God. It was an opportunity for me to grow spiritually. With this reframing, I felt buoyed to pray on.
I’d learned at law school to define terms, so I flicked open to the Glossary in “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” by Mary Baker Eddy for some grounding in a spiritual sense of what God is. There I read, “GOD. The great I AM; the all-knowing, all-seeing, all-acting, all-wise, all-loving, and eternal; Principle; Mind; Soul; Spirit; Life; Truth; Love; all substance; intelligence” (p. 587).
So where was I in all of this? “The Scriptures inform us that man is made in the image and likeness of God” (Science and Health, p. 475). This was soothing, but I wasn’t yet feeling it. I realized that I feared that whatever I did in this selection process, someone would lose out.
Instead of accepting this fear-based belief, I sought to understand that “divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need.” This simple yet profound thought from Science and Health (p. 494), written on the wall of the Christian Science society I attend, lifted the weight off my shoulders. It was not my application form that would determine whether my needs or those of my colleagues would be met. Rather, divine Love was in charge.
Furthermore, it was not roles in the firm that would supply human needs: It was God. It was not for me to determine how Love’s goodness would be manifested, whether through a specific position or by some other means. In fact, Love’s blessings can be manifested in an infinite number of ways because, “Whatever blesses one blesses all, as Jesus showed with the loaves and the fishes, – Spirit, not matter, being the source of supply” (Science and Health, p. 206).
I did not need to think of the positions at work as limited loaves and fishes; I could follow Jesus’ example and accept that infinite Soul, Spirit, God, is the source of supply.
As I dwelt on these truths, my peace was restored, and I had the courage to apply for the position. I knew that whether I got it or not, divine Love would supply my every need. I felt grateful to be able to embrace all of my colleagues in this newfound sense of spiritual supply.
When news came that I was accepted for the position, I again leaned on the truth that not one of my colleagues would be deprived of good. There was one who really wanted the position, but was fine after I took on the role. She carried on with her path, and when she left the firm, she wrote me a sweet letter.
Divine Love was supplying everybody’s needs.
Adapted from an article published in the June 2025 issue of The Christian Science Journal.
