The Infinite Way Letters
November 1954
By Joel Goldsmith
Part 4 of 4
Attain That Mind
Daily Inspiration
Whenever I go onto the lecture platform or into the classroom, and more recently as when I sat before a microphone to give a series of morning broadcasts, I have nothing thought out in advance and nothing rehearsed in my mind to say. Instead, I go in a sense of prayer: in the attitude that it is not Joel’s word that is being given, but this the Word of God being given through the instrument known as Joel, and so I am always confident that God will give me just the Word necessary for the occasion.
When Moses was leading the Children of Israel out of Egypt into freedom, you will remember that God met every need as the need arose. When Pharaoh’s army was in close pursuit of the fleeing Hebrews, God sent, through the consciousness of Moses, a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night to guide them through the wilderness. When there was no food He sent manna from the sky. When there was no water, water came forth from the rock. When the Red Sea proved to be a barrier, God opened the way for the people to cross on dry land. In every instance of need God provided just the thing of the occasion.
In the New Testament we find that when the Master, Christ Jesus, was preaching and healing the multitudes a need arose for food, and God, through the consciousness of Jesus, multiplied the loaves and fishes and there were twelve baskets full left over. When angry mobs threatened the Master, God opened the way through the throng; when taxes were due, God produced gold in the fish’s mouth. The lesson in these experiences and, in fact, in all the experiences that are to be found throughout the Bible, is that upon each of these occasions there was a Moses present, there was a Jesus present, and in other instances there was an Elijah, an Elisha, an Isaiah—always there was present one whoso consciousness was filled with the Word of God; one who lived and moved and had his being in God, and one who let the Word of God dwell in him.
So it is with us today. Because for many, many years we have been accustomed to living in the Word and through the Word and with the Word of God, whenever we speak or write the necessary word and the appropriate word comes forth. This same Truth is true in all of our active experience; whatever is necessary for the performance of our work, we find God ever available to do it for us and through us.
Each of us has a work to do. For some it is physical or professional work; for some it is mental; for others it is creative or inventive. We all have become accustomed to the idea that we alone must perform it; that the responsibility is entirely ours; and that we can perform it only in proportion to our own strength and ability, according to our own experience and wisdom.
But now we are given a new lesson: “…he performeth the thing that is appointed for me….The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me….” In this understanding we can do our work far beyond the limits of our own ability. We can know things far beyond our own education and knowledge. We can meet the demands of our families, friends and benevolences far beyond the capacity of our own pocketbooks, but we can only do this through the Word of God—only by abiding in the Word of God and letting the Word abide in us. And so, many, many times throughout the day let each of us remember this scriptural promise, “…he performeth the thing that is appointed for me…” and notice the great relaxation from responsibility, the deep feeling of peace as you realize, “The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me….” or, as in the words of the Master, “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.”
You can perform your work with a much clearer thought and with a much freer mind when you know that you are not alone. There is a great wisdom working in and through you when you realize that within you there is a Great Spirit giving you greater capacities, greater rewards, and greater recognition than you could win or earn for yourself.
There is not far-off God singling you out for special favors, but there is a God of whom one of our great poets wrote: “Speak to Him thou, for He hears, and Spirit with Spirit can meet. Closer is He than breathing, and nearer than hands and feet.” He is closer to you than breathing, and this God within you, this power, this divine love, this infinite wisdom is ready, as you permit it, to perform all you are given to do.
It is a wonderful thing to know that we are not alone in the world. We never have been alone: we have merely neglected to bring God, the Word of God, into .with our daily experience. We have forgotten that God is practical and that the way of life through God is practical. Nothing in human life is more practical than the realization and the recognizing of the Presence of God within us.
It is like resting back upon a gentle, enveloping cloud of peace and love and confidence.
End Part 4