Chapter 14 — Your Needs Are Met
You’ve heard the story of the old man who called his children to his bedside to give them a few parting words of advice. And this was the burden of it.
“My children,” he said, “I have had a great deal of trouble in my life — a great deal of trouble — but most of it never happened.”
We are all of us like that old man. Our troubles weigh us down — in prospect — but we usually find that when the actual need arrives, Providence has devised some way of meeting it.
Dr. Jacques Loeb, a member of the Rockefeller Institute, conducted a series of tests with parasites found on plants, which show that even the lowest order of creatures have the power to call upon Universal Supply for the resources to meet any unusual need.
“In order to obtain the material,” reads the report of the tests, “potted rose bushes are brought into a room and placed in front of a closed window. If the plants are allowed to dry out, the aphides (parasites), previously wingless, change to winged insects. After the metamorphosis, the animals leave the plants, fly to the window and then creep upward on the glass.
“It is evident that these tiny insects found that the plants on which they had been thriving were dead, and that they could therefore secure nothing more to eat and drink from this source. The only method by which they could save themselves from starvation was to grow temporary wings and fly, which they did.”
In short, when their source of sustenance was shut off and they had to find the means of migrating or perish, Universal Supply furnished the means for migration.
If Universal Mind can thus provide for the meanest of its creatures, is it not logical to suppose that It will do even more for us — the highest product of creation — if we will but call upon It, if we will but have a little faith? Viewed in the light of Mind’s response to the need of those tiny parasites, does it seem so unbelievable that a sea should roll back while a people marched across it dry-shod? That a pillar of fire should lead them through the wilderness by night? That manna should fall from heaven, or water gush forth from a rock?
In moments of great peril, in times of extremity, when the brave soul has staked its all — those are the times when miracles are wrought, if we will but have faith.
That doesn’t mean that you should rest supinely at your ease and let the Lord provide. When you have done all that is in you to do — when you have given of your best — don’t worry or fret as to the outcome. Know that if more is needed, your need will be met. You can sit back with the confident assurance that having done your part; you can depend upon the Genie-of-your-Mind to do the rest.
When the little state of Palestine was in danger of being overrun by Egypt on the one hand, or gobbled up by Assyria on the other, its people were frantically trying to decide which horn of the dilemma to embrace, with which enemy they should ally themselves to stave off the other. “With neither,” the Prophet Isaiah told them, “in calmly resting your safety lieth; in quiet trust shall be your strength.”
So it is with most of the great calamities that afflict us. If we would only “calmly rest, quietly trust,” how much better off we should be. But no — we must fret and worry, and nine times out of ten do the wrong thing. And the more we worry and fret, the more likely we are to go wrong.
All of Universal Mind that is necessary to solve any given problem, to meet any need, is wherever that need may be. Supply is always where you are and what you need. It matters not whether it be sickness or trouble, poverty or danger, the remedy is there, waiting for your call. Go at your difficulty boldly, knowing that you have infinite resources behind you, and you will find these forces closing around you and coming to your aid.
It’s like an author writing a book. For a long time he works in a kind of mental fog, but let him persevere, and there flashes suddenly a light that clarifies his ideas and shows him the way to shape them logically. At the moment of despair, you feel a source of unknown energy arising in your soul.
That doesn’t mean that you will never have difficulties. Difficulties are good for you. They are the exercise of your mind. You are the stronger for having overcome them. But look upon them as mere exercise. As “stunts” that are given you in order that you may the better learn how to use your mind, how to draw upon Universal Supply. Like Jacob wrestling with the Angel, don’t let them go until they have blessed you — until, in other words, you have learned something from having encountered them.
Remember this: No matter how great a catastrophe may befall mankind, no matter how general the loss, you and yours can be free from it. There is always a way of safety. There is always an “ark” by which the understanding few can be saved from the flood. The name of that ark is understanding — understanding of your inner powers. When the children of Israel were being led into the Promised Land, and Joshua had given them their directions, they answered him: “All that thou commandest us we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us, we will go... Only the Lord thy God be with thee, as He was with Moses.”
They came to the river Jordan, and it seemed an insurmountable barrier in their path, but Joshua commanded them to take the Ark of the Covenant, representing God’s understanding with them, before them into the Jordan. They did it, and “the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap... And the priests that bare the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan.”
The Ark of the Covenant
All through the Old Testament, when war and pestilence, fire and flood, were the common lot of mankind, there is constant assurance of safety for those who have this understanding, this “Covenant” with the Lord. “Because thou hast made the Lord which is my refuge — even the Most High — thy habitation, there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For He shall give His angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways.”
That is His agreement with us — an agreement that gives us the superiority to circumstances, which men have sought from time immemorial. All that is necessary on our side of the agreement is for us to remember the infinite powers that reside within us, to remember that our mind is part of Universal Mind and as such it can foresee, it can guard against and it can protect us from harm of any kind. We need not run away from trials or try to become stoical towards them. All we need is to bring our understanding to bear upon them — to know that no situation has ever yet arisen with which Universal Mind — and through it our own mind — was not fully competent to deal. To know that the right solution of every problem is in Universal Mind. We have but to seek that solution and our trial is overcome.
“But where shall Wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? Acquaint now thyself with God, and be at peace.”
If evil threatens us, if failure, sickness or accident seems imminent, we have only to decide that these evils do not come from Universal Mind, therefore they are unreal and have no power over us. They are simply the absence of the right condition, which Universal Mind knows. Refuse, therefore, to see them, to acknowledge them — and seek through Mind for the right condition, which shall nullify them.
If you will do this, you will find that you can appropriate from Mind whatever you require for your needs, when you require it. The greater your need, the more surely it will be met, if you can but realize this truth. “Fear not, little flock,” said Jesus, “for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.”
Remember that your thought is all-powerful. That it is creative. That there is no limitation upon it of time or space. And that it is ever available.
Forget your worries. Forget your fears. In place of them, visualize the conditions you would like to see. Realize their availability. Declare to yourself that you already have all these things that you desire, that your needs have been met. Say to yourself: “How thankful