Hope is a wonderful quality, but the expectation of good is better. A couple may hope to have children. This could be attended with doubts as to whether their hope will come to fruition. A couple expecting a child, however, has great confidence this will be fulfilled.

Good health is desired by everyone. When there’s a health problem, the universal, overriding hope is for the restoration of health. Sometimes, though, whether because of the persistence of a health issue, the aggressiveness of symptoms, or a frightening diagnosis, the expectation of healing may be uncertain or nonexistent. Many are told they will have to learn to live with and manage a particular condition, often by following a rigorous regimen. In other cases, the only hope for recovery may be what’s termed a miracle.

Christ Jesus, whose method of healing recorded in the Bible is the model for Christian Science healing, showed by his example that we can expect healing in any situation. Matthew 14:36 states that all who came to Jesus for healing “were made perfectly whole.” People in Jesus’ day often termed these healings miraculous, and they may also be seen as miracles today, yet the consistency of Jesus’ healings shows that his ministry was based on law—the law of God, or the Science of Christ, divine Truth. Mary Baker Eddy discovered this law through spiritual inspiration, and named it Christian Science.