Welcome to the Daily Chizuk. Someone once wrote a letter to the Sfat Emet, explaining that he was having so many hardships in his life and that things never went his way. He asked what he could do to try to change his fortune. The Sfat Emet wrote back to him: There’s a halakha (Jewish law). Twice a year, we read certain parts of the Torah that discuss horrible punishments, and the halakha is that the Baal Koreh (Torah reader) is not allowed to end an aliyah (Torah-reading honor) in the middle. Rather, one person has to get the entire aliyah. And the Midrash gives the reason. Hashem says, “It’s not proper that I should be blessed while my children are being rebuked.” We know that when someone gets an aliyah to the Torah, he says a beracha: he blesses Hashem that Hashem is so great and Hashem is king of the world. And Hashem says, “I can’t be blessed while these things are being read about my children.”
So, the Sfat Emet said, if you feel like you’re having hardships in life, the best thing to do is bless Hashem and praise Hashem and say, “Hashem, you must know what you’re doing.” And then all the yisurin (hardships in life) will disappear, because Hashem says, “It’s not proper that I should be blessed while you are being afflicted.”
Someone once had a big hardship in his life. People were claiming a large amount of money from him, and he felt that he didn’t owe it. But instead of crying about it and getting depressed, he went to the beach, looked out into the ocean, and started to think about all the blessings in his life and how Hashem had always been there for him in all situations. He thanked Hashem for one full hour and said, “Hashem, no, this too is directly from you. The people claiming the money are just puppets. And this must also be one of your chassadim. This must also be one of your kindnesses.” The next morning, they dropped the whole claim. He could have cried for an hour, but he would have accomplished nothing. If anything, it would have been counterproductive.
The Sefer Divrei Yisrael writes that worry and depression block the blessings of Hashem from taking hold. He writes further that handing the situation over to Hashem with peace of mind, knowing that your father is really in charge, opens up the pipes for all of the Shefa (abundance) to come pouring down. If people would start blessing Hashem more, they would see miracles, because praising Hashem takes away all the dinim (judgments) on a person, no matter what the issue is.
It’s been said: “If a person says to Hashem, ‘You’re so kind. You give me so much. You give me so much good in life,’ then Hashem says, ‘You think this is kindness? I’ll show you what kindness is. You think this is good? I will show you what real good is.’”
Let us constantly praise and thank Hashem in all situations. And then we will fulfill one of our main missions in life. As the Navi (prophet) Yeshaya said, “Hashem created this nation for Himself. Am zu yatzarti li, tehilati yesaperu. Why? So that they should constantly be relating His praises.” Have a great day.