I’ve used the word hope many times in my life, and usually, there aren’t any changes in the situation, whatever it is. Today, I have a good idea why it hasn’t worked in the past. I would sit on my hands and hope things would change. I would hope someone would get off my case, but it didn’t happen. I would expect to lose weight, but would gain instead. I would hope to win the lottery, but I never do. With every hope, I would feel how God wasn’t listening. The answer was simple. I needed to accept someone for being who they are; eat more healthily, exercise, and buy a lottery ticket.

Today, “hope ” is an action verb. It means I tell God my expectations and then listen for what I’m to do to make them come true. Doing nothing gets nothing in return. I try not to project how the outcome will be, because I know that whatever it is, it will always be better than anything I could have expected.

My Higher Power always gives me what I need, not what I want. Give this a try yourself and see if you get the same results I’m seeing.