One who trusts in Hashem knows that any effort he invests in pursuing a livelihood is done to fulfill his obligation of hishtadlut, but the results have nothing to do with him, as they are determined solely by Hashem. As the Gemara teaches in Masechet Pesahim (54), אין אדם יודע במה משתכר – a person does not know through which means he will earn money. Often, we have a great plan which fails to yield any income, while on other occasions endeavors which showed little promise ended up producing the best results. Our job is to try and to always remain calm and content, trusting that everything is controlled by Hashem. When the situation does not unfold the way we expect or want, as so often happens, we should not become worried. We should remind ourselves that everything is happening the way Hashem wants it to, and perhaps one day we will see how the situation was actually a blessing.
A man told me that he had an important meeting scheduled with a very large company, and he needed to produce clothing samples to show the buyer. The samples were very expensive, and, to make matters worse, there was a misunderstanding and the company sent two of each item, instead of just one. The man had to pay $6000 for the samples, instead of $3000. He had recently begun working to strengthen his emunah, and so he did not complain or worry about what happened. He simply accepted it as Hashem’s will and moved on. Several days before the meeting, the buyer called him and asked that the samples look washed, and so the man brought the samples to his housekeeper and asked her to wash them. The housekeeper mistakenly put the samples in the dryer, and they shrunk and become completely ruined. Thankfully, he had an extra set of samples which Hashem had given him.
Hashem always knows better than we do, and so whether or not we can see how a situation is beneficial, we need to trust that everything is for the best.
A person’s livelihood does not have to be supplied through his professional activity or business. הרבה שלוחים למקום – Hashem has many messengers. Any money we receive at any point, from any source, is from Hashem, who has many different ways with which to provide us with what we need. Very often, a person’s job does not provide the money that is allotted to him, and so Hashem sends it to him from other sources.
A man told me that he recently was making an affair, and had money set aside especially for the occasion. It became clear, however, that the expenses would be much more than he anticipated, and the funds he had saved were insufficient. Each day, he prayed to Hashem to give him the money he needed, and he added in each prayer, “Hashem, I don’t want to be in debt, and I don’t want to have to borrow from other people. You have more than enough to give me.”
One night, after his Daf Yomi class, another participant in the shiur approached him and began speaking to him about his upcoming affair. In the middle of the conversation, he asked, “How much are you short?”
The man was stunned, and said, “It’s ok, I’m fine.”
But the other fellow persisted, and finally the man admitted that he was $15,000 short. The other man said he wanted the merit of helping, and right on the spot he wrote him a check for the full amount.
“I don’t like lending money,” the man said, “so I don’t want this money back.”
Just like that, the problem was solved.
“This was miraculous,” the man told me. “Whoever heard of somebody from your nightly shiur coming over to you and offering to give you money like this? It was Hashem’s kindness.”
הרבה שלוחים למקום. We must recognize that Hashem has many different ways of giving us what we need, and live our lives accordingly. We put in the effort, but Hashem produces the results.