Welcome to the Daily Chizuk (encouragement). Mesillat Yesharim writes that every situation that comes a person's way all the time is a test sent by Hashem for him to overcome. Nothing is coincidence. A person gets a phone call informing him of a very important meeting tomorrow, one minute before his Torah class, and now he's very nervous about the meeting. It's difficult to concentrate during the class. He starts thinking, “Why did the guy have to call at that minute? If he had called a little later, I could have enjoyed my class and concentrated much better.” That was a test to see whether you will manage to put it out of your mind and focus on the class, or whether you're going to let the hour go to waste. If someone comes to sit next to you and starts clearing his throat every 10 seconds, and you're ready to explode because there are no other seats and it's so annoying, it was no accident. It was a planned test, testing your patience. If the guy behind you starts clicking, and you're hearing his pen over and over for whatever reason, and for whatever reason it wouldn't be nice to ask him to stop, you are being tested. If you know this in advance, it's so much easier to overcome. Imagine Hashem would come to you in advance and tell you, “I'm sending this guy to click his pen, and every time he clicks and you remain calm, I'm going to deposit $1,000 into your bank account.” Then how would those clicks sound? Each click would be music to your ears. But that's really what's happening. That's what's happening. And you're getting much more than $1,000. If you're prepared, you could do anything.
Rabbi Fischel Schachter gave a mashal (parable). He said he once heard a life insurance agent telling people who were trying to sell life insurance, “For every 10 people who slam the door in your face, you'll get one appointment. For every 10 appointments, you'll get one person who shows limited interest. And for every 10 people with limited interest, you'll get one who actually buys it.” If you know this beforehand, you'll be able to handle all the slams. The Gemara in Rosh Hashanah tells us that if someone hurts you or embarrasses you, and instead of yelling back at them, you remain quiet and manage to forgive them, you'll be forgiven for all of your sins. It's a deal of a lifetime. Now, it's not fun to be embarrassed, and a person who does get embarrassed could, chas v'shalom (God forbid), get angry at Hashem and say, “How could You let this happen to me?” Or they could say, “Oh Hashem, You love me so much; You gave me an opportunity to purify myself in one second.” If we understand that challenges are opportunities for greatness and an unimaginable reward, we wouldn't be as upset. A woman told me that her husband was out of work and had been looking for a job for two years. He had an interview with someone, and they totally humiliated him. They told him he wasn't worth anything, but he didn't say a word. He thanked them for their time, and in the parking lot he said, “Hashem, I know this is also from You.” And right then and there, he prayed for a job. He was just purified. His tefillot (prayers) were answered immediately. Within 48 hours, he started a new job. When you recognize it's a test and act with dignity, the heavens open up, and you could really start cashing in.
Rabbi Schachter told the story of the Tchebiner Rav. He was in a deep sleep one Shabbat afternoon when there was a loud banging at the door. The person kept banging and banging, and the rabbi thought, “Who could that be? Maybe it's an emergency.” He opens the door, and it's a 12-year-old boy asking the rabbi if they could learn Gemara together. The boy said he had missed his Gemara lesson in school, and the rabbi wouldn't let him take the test until he made it up. Now, this was the rabbi of the town, who in a couple of hours was going to be teaching crowds of people. He wanted a little rest. He could have easily said, “Not right now, young boy. I'm resting now,” or, “I'm a very busy man.” But he overcame it, and he sat with the boy for a whole hour. The rabbi said afterwards, he had learned this particular Gemara maybe a hundred times in his life, but the revelations he had during that sitting were unparalleled. Hashem opened his mind to see things he was never able to see. When we recognize that all of our tests are being sent by Hashem for our own benefit, we'll be able to overcome them and use them to become great people. Have a great day.