Having good expectations of God is a worship that many people overlook, even though our merciful religion has commanded us with it, and good expectations means that the servant is pleased with what God has divided for him of destinies, events, and gifts, even if they are against his desire or his current ambition. The servant may arrange for himself some matter, and God delays it for him until he is strongly prepared for it, or God changes it for something better than it, so He prevents from him what he desired, for God’s compensation is always good and will not come except according to the servant’s good expectations of his Lord.
For the servant’s good expectation of his Lord, his provision is according to the goodness of his expectation of good, but as for if the servant has bad expectations of his Lord, his Lord tests him according to the badness of his expectation, for the noble Prophet, peace be upon him, has said, let none of you die except while having good expectations of God.
One day, a fisherman took his wife, and they went out on their ship to the expanse of the sea, intending to bring God’s provision for them both, but in the middle of the way and in the expanse of the sea, a severe storm blew, pushing the waters towards the small ship, and the waves rose severely, so terror began to creep into their hearts, and the couple were certain that they were doomed to perish inevitably with this stormy weather, and no chance of salvation from that inevitable end except for a miracle that God Almighty would drive to them.
The poor wife collapsed and began to scream loudly, not knowing or understanding what she must do in those dangerous moments, and from the severity of her terror that her time had come, she went to scream at her husband and clung to his neck while in a state of agitation and panic, but to her astonishment she found him sitting in a corner of the ship, calm and surrendered as if nothing had happened.
The poor wife looked at her husband in amazement and asked him what had happened to him, for she thought he was suffering from some illness, so she rushed towards him blaming him for his indifference to that disaster threatening them while he was in a state of coldness. Here the husband stood up, drew his sword and put it on her neck, and said to her why did you not fear me when I did that to you? So she said to him I know fully well that you will not harm me, so why did you do that? So her husband said to her why did you not fear? She said to him because I trust you fully. So the husband smiled and said to her, and how do you trust me while I am human, and you do not trust the Lord of the Worlds, who created us and is capable of saving us from any distress, for He is the Controller and the Director of all our affairs, so the wife felt shame.
She said to him you have every right my dear husband, indeed God Almighty is capable of changing the condition and transforming it to its better, if we have good expectations of Him, and that He is capable of all things, and this matter is not easy as it is not extremely difficult, for the true Muslim should always expect good from the Lord of Glory, even in the darkest circumstances and crises. The couple sat for a little while and the waves calmed, and the ship was driven on its way and returned them to the shore after they had emptied all the water from it, and they returned to their home rejoicing in salvation, and happy that God had granted them salvation as a result of their good expectations of Him.
For Abu Huraira from the Prophet, peace be upon him, said beware of suspicion, for suspicion is the most false of speech, and do not spy, and do not spy, and do not envy, and do not turn away, and do not hate, and be servants of God as brothers.