Welcome to the Daily Chizuk (encouragement). Someone once told me, “I thought I had Bitachon (trust in God) and Hashem. I’m always telling people, Hashem is great; Hashem is taking care of us. But when a problem comes up in my own life, I lose it. I’m nervous, I’m worrying. What did all my lessons in Emunah (faith) do for me?” And I told them back, “Every lesson accomplishes something.” It’s not all or nothing when it comes to Emunah and Bitachon.
I once heard a story from Rabbi Fischl Schachter that illustrates this point beautifully. He said there was once a great rabbi who spent his life learning Torah and writing pages and pages of Chidushim (novel insights). He heard that they had come out with a printing press and wanted to get all of his notes printed into books. But the printing press was overseas, and he told one of his students, “I’m giving you a very important job. Take my life’s work, take my work with you overseas, get it printed, and guard it with every fiber of your body.” The student shook; he was very nervous. But he said, “Okay, Rabbi, I’ll do it for you.” Unfortunately, when the student set sail, there was a big storm at sea, and the boat started to fall apart. The student managed to save his life, but he lost all the papers. When he got back, he told his friends what happened, and they were petrified. He said, “How are we going to break the news to the rabbi? His entire life’s work is gone.” One boy had an idea.
The next day in class, the rabbi came in and told them all to open up their Gemarot. One boy raised his hand and said, “Rabbi, I have a question. I was learning a Mishnah yesterday in Masechet Berachot that says, ‘K'shem shemevarech al hatovah kach mevarech al hara'ah.’ The same way when something good happens in your life and you’re happy, and you bless Hashem and thank Hashem, so too, if something bad happens, you have to bless Hashem and be happy and be thankful. Rabbi, how is this possible?” The rabbi said, “What do you mean, bad? Everything Hashem does is good. It’s for your best.” Another student raised his hand and said, “Rabbi, but what if this happens? Do you still have to be happy?” The rabbi said, “Of course. That’s the best thing that could have happened to you. Everything is good.” Another student said, “Rabbi, but what about this?” The rabbi started getting beet red in the face. He said, “Hashem is good. Everything Hashem does is good.” Then one student said, “Rabbi, all of your papers were lost at sea.” The rabbi fainted on the spot. The student said, “Oh no, we tried. I guess it didn’t work.” They revived the rabbi and said, “Rabbi, we’re sorry. We tried to help, but it didn’t work.” The rabbi said, “Are you kidding? At least I woke up. If you didn’t do that first, I don’t know what would have happened.”
Which means it’s not all or nothing. There are thousands of levels of Emunah, thousands of levels of Bitachon. And for every level higher that you reach, your life will become that much better. Have a great day.