What are you expecting?

The answer to that question may surprise you. Everyone wants good; but human expectations are often negative, restricted by what we glean from the five physical senses.

When times are good, do we, perhaps inadvertently, allow fear to creep in? Do we think that the good times are ''too good to be true'' and expect a change for the worse?

Many times a familiar Bible passage can aid us in stopping this mental roller coaster plunge. Interestingly enough, this lament from the book of Job has helped me by reminding me to keep fear out of thought: ''The thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.'' n1

n1 Job 3:25.

Even when we have fears about the possibility of losing the good in our lives , or when we have apparently already lost it, we can change the picture by turning wholeheartedly to God for help.

The Psalmist saw a way out of the prison of fearful thinking. He sang, ''My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.'' n2 Trusting God to provide us with thoughts we need brings peace and progress. It helps us face with confidence the daily challenges relating to health, employment, relationships, and so forth.

n2 Psalms 62:5.

God is a loving Father, never wrathful or destructive. Mary Baker Eddy, who discovered and founded Christian Science, came to see that Christ Jesus' teachings are practical for today, and that an understanding of his Christly view of God as our Father, almighty and infinitely good, actually heals.

Earthbound thinking sees matter as creative and powerful, and reality as consisting solely of what we perceive with our eyes, ears, and other physical senses. But these senses, by their very nature, are limited; they can't possibly take in the infinite actuality of good, of all that comes from divine Spirit, from God Himself.

On the other hand, spiritual-mindedness, cultivated through prayer and purity of thought, reveals unlimited possibilities for good, because it enables us to discern the good that comes from Spirit alone. Waiting only upon God, admitting only the divine Mind to be the source of man's perceptions, reveals ideas and capacities we may never have known we possessed.

The healings we read about in the Bible came about through spiritually based expectancy. The prophets and apostles learned not to take human conditions at face value, not to consent to material so-called laws as all-powerful or final. For example, it was Elisha's understanding that material forces are subordinate to God's power which enabled him to raise an iron axe-head to the surface of the Jordan River so that it would float. n3 Because the Apostle Paul realized that God was the true source of man's life and health, he was not harmed by the bite of a poisonous viper. n4

n3 See II Kings 6:1-7.

n4 See Acts 28:1-6.

These spiritually-minded individuals expected divine power to support right action, and their expectations were fulfilled. Human theories couldn't overpower divine law.

Before I learned the value of trusting my life to God's law instead of to human designs, I had spent ten years yearning desperately for children to bless our marriage. I did finally conceive, and then miscarry, a child. But as the truths of the Bible were revealed through my study of Christian Science, I realized that I could apply literally the idea earlier quoted from Psalms.

When pregnancy was confirmed a short time later, it was clear to me that my ''expectation'' was truly from God; that He is the actual source of all right ideas and all identities, and that as a result this child could be expected to develop harmoniously. In daily turning to God in prayer for an accurate concept of both the child's and my identity, I found comfort and confidence. It was a happy time, and the delivery was without the pain or complications that had been expected by the doctor. A healthy daughter was presented to a grateful dad within slightly more than an hour after we had appeared at the hospital door. This was clear proof to me that, as Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, observes, ''When the destination is desirable, expectation speeds our progress.'' n5

n5 Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 426.

Don't let a limited, material sense of things dim your expectation of good! Good is natural, native to man, and can be realized even when circumstances seem very threatening. The need is to pray often, and fervently, trusting God to reveal the good in store for you. You can expect it! DAILY BIBLE VERSE Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. I-Corinthians 2:9