What does it mean to hang tight when times are tough? Are we to just grin and bear it? Or willfully push through the pain? Not at all.
Great comfort can be taken in this verse from one of David’s psalms: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me” (Psalms 23:4). God, Love, is with us, here and now. Love assures us, “As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you” (Isaiah 66:13).
But if it seems that we aren’t experiencing this divine comfort, what can we do? The teachings of Christian Science bring us right to the heart of the nature of God and our relation to Him, and that can be a very helpful place to start.
According to the New Testament book of First John, the nature of God is Love (see 4:8). God is also Spirit. We are each divine Love’s child, made in the likeness of Spirit. As God’s children, we are not separate little entities that Love has created and then abandoned. We are actually one with Love, and this perfect relationship is forever uninterrupted. It’s constant and unending because God, Love, is constant and unending.
There may be times, though, when we feel that the demand to stand strong is too great for us. We may wonder if God’s power really is strong enough to help us withstand our trial.
It certainly is, and we can feel it by yielding fear, grief, and torment to Love’s all-encompassing care. “Already the shadow of His right hand rests upon the hour,” writes Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science (“Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” p. 233) – which speaks to me of that ever-present divine care.
Judean king Hezekiah, as recorded in the Bible, must have felt the touch of God’s love at a time when he was very ill (see Isaiah 38:1-6). Having been told by the prophet Isaiah to set his affairs in order to prepare for death, Hezekiah’s fear must have felt all-encompassing. That’s when the king “turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the Lord.”
Though we don’t know how he was praying, it seems as though Hezekiah shut the threat of death out of his thoughts by turning from it and lifting his thought fully to God, and this prayer brought a transformation. He fully recovered – and lived for another 15 years – and Jerusalem, Judea’s capital city, was kept safe from enemy invasion as well. Hezekiah stood strong, and with divine Love, he prevailed.
Like him, we can begin by turning our “face toward the wall” – turning away from the mental clamor that would sink us with thoughts of fear, disease, despair, and so on.
This takes spiritual courage and strength. And yet, the omnipotence and omnipresence of divine Love are enough to adjust the circumstances. It is enough to bring about immediate healing, if we’ll turn our face, or gaze – open our thought – to God to know and feel His comfort, care, and protection. Christ Jesus reassuringly said, “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).
Many years ago, I was awakened by a tremendous pain. I began praying, but when I didn’t receive immediate relief, I awakened my husband to pray with me. Turning from the pain as best I could, I prayed, affirming that God was present right there with me. I claimed my right to feel divine Love’s tender touch. As I humbly lifted my thought to Love’s allness, the pain quickly and easily dissipated. I thanked God – and my husband – and got back into bed for a peaceful rest. And the pain hasn’t returned.
Whatever we are facing, standing strong in tough times is possible. It’s not about human will or “true grit” – simply hanging tight. It’s about yielding false belief to the understanding of our true nature as the spiritual image of God, Spirit.
This Christlike nature doesn’t require self-will or self-justification to bring about a good ending. It requires turning to God with a sincere, pure understanding of God and man’s uninterruptible relationship and yielding to this spiritual fact. Standing strong is not about physical strength, although physical strength may be its result. It is about spiritual strength that faces the storms of everyday life with trust in ever-present Love.
As we wholeheartedly trust in divine Love, we feel God’s presence and healing power.
Adapted from an editorial published in the Aug. 18, 2025, issue of the Christian Science Sentinel.
