We are now up to the 4th introduction, in which the Hovot HaLevavot teaches us an important principle: G-d works middah k’neged middah, which means measure for measure. In other words, the way we act to Him, He acts to us. There’s a relationship.
He quotes a mishna in Pirke Avot (אבות ב ד) עשה רצונו כרצונך כדי שיעשה רצונך כרצונו,
Do G-d’s will like (you do) your will, so that He’ll do your will like it’s His will.
For example, G-d’s will is that you get up in the morning and go pray. You can do this begrudgingly or you can do it with the same eagerness as you would do something that’s your will, such as getting up to play golf.
Do what G-d wants you to do with the same enthusiasm and excitement as you do your will. The payoff is that:
כדי שיעשה רצונך כרצונו
He’ll do your will like He does His will. When you want the order, you want to get it like its Hashem’s will.
As we say in Kaddish, in Aramaic,
בְּעָלְמָא דִּי בְרָא כִּרְעוּתֵיהּthe whole world was created according to His Will. Hashem made the world like He wants to.
Hashem can do whatever He wants.
So how do we get G-d to do what we want? By doing what He wants.
The Hovot HaLevavot says that part of having good Bitachon is doing what Hashem wants you to do. It makes sense.
He says it’s foolish not to listen to Hashem’s wants, and then to rely Him. It doesn’t work like that.
And furthermore: בטל רצונך מפני רצונו
Cancel your will for His will.
What’s your will?
If you ate a hamburger and then wanted ice cream for dessert, you ratzon/will is for the ice cream, but you can cancel or break your urge for the ice cream, to do Hashem’s will.
And when you do that,
כדי שיבטל רצון אחרים מפני רצונך.
Hashem will break the urges of others for your urge.
If there’s a neighbor who wants to call the Building Dept. and shut down your job, G-d can cancel their will, because you cancelled your will.
This is a tremendous Hiddush from the Mishnah in Pirke Avot on two ends. We all have things that we want, and there are things that people want to do to us.
Part 1: If we do what G-d wants with enthusiasm like it’s our own want, then G-d gets our will done with that same enthusiasm that He uses for what He wants.
Part 2 is that we sometimes have to control or annul our own wants, because that is not what Hashem wants. For example, someone really wants to open their store on Shabbat, but G-d doesn’t want that.We all have things, on our own levels, that we want to do but we aren’t allowed, because the Torah restricts us. When we break our ratzon, the negative wants of the outside world, in connection to us, such as Lo Alenu terrorists, cyber-hackers, villains and other demons are broken in turn.
How do we get rid of them?
When we pass on the milk in our coffee because we had a hamburger, that causes the will of others (that might be against us) to disappear.
** Because the way I act in my relationship and my wants with G-d, is how G-d reciprocates with me**