To give us hizzuk when we don’t get exactly what we need, the Hovot Halevavot uses examples from nature, as he has in the past.
His first example addresses the issue of what happens when our parnassah is delayed-when the “check is in the mail”:
This person should think:
Just like G-d brought me into the world at a specific time (no earlier and no later), He’s holding back my parnasa (or whatever item it is we are waiting for) until a certain time as well, because He knows what’s good for me.
It is beyond our understanding, but every person is born under a certain Mazal (celestial sign). G-d times this perfectly. There is no such thing as a baby born too early or too late. No woman is ever overdue. The right time is the time that the baby comes out, because G-d programs it that way.
It says in the Gemarah that there are three keys that G-d holds, and He won’t ever give up more than one of them at time. They are the key to rain, the key to the resurrection of the dead, and the key to childbirth. All children are born at a specific time, for specific reasons. Think back, says the Hovot Halevavot, to your birth. The same G-d that controlled the key to your birth is controlling your parnassah.
It’s interesting to note that the key to rain is actually the key to parnassah, and Hashem holds both. It’s possible that this is why the Hovot Halevavot compares the two. The key to birth is controlled by G-d. We can’t fathom why, but everything thereafter is dependent on our specific Mazal- our shidduchim, our parnassah etc. It’s all predetermined (of course we can go above our Mazal with prayer).
We were all born at exactly the right time, and we have to remember that our parnasa has a right time as well. Recalling this example from nature is the proper way to deal with this challenge, mentioned by the Hovot Halevavot, when our parnasa is “stuck in the mail.”
The second challenge brought up by the Hovot HaLevavot is that sometimes a person has parnasa, but it’s מצומצם - it’s tight. He only has enough to cover the day-to-day. He has what he needs for now, but he has no savings. That’s a little bit challenging.
The Hovot HaLevavot tells this person he should think about when he was a nursing baby. G-d gave him exactly the amount of milk that he needed for that meal, that day; there was no storage or back-up supply, until G-d switched him to something different (i.e. regular food). Living life in such an exact manner as a nursing baby did no damage at all, at the time. In fact, it was necessary. That was the way it had to be. And just like G-d gave us the ability to survive those times with the exact food we needed, and then moved us onto a different situation when we needed it, so too throughout life, G-d is directing us the same way.
The Hovot HaLevavot’s example of this is the manna in the desert. In the desert, the Jewish people lived day-to-day, when they went out for the manna.
And then the Hovot Halevavot says four powerful words.
ויהיה נשכר על זה
You get rewarded for this.
When we deal with challenges, worries, or concerns in life, and we’re able to invoke our Bitachon, we get rewarded for this. The challenge is hard, of course, but we have to understand that the challenge is an opportunity.
ויהיה נשכר על זה
We can get rewarded for it.
The Hovot HaLevavot will soon tell us all about the great things that are generated by the person exercising bitachon.
When you have a challenge and you think positive thoughts, you get rewarded. And as we’ve mentioned previously, these rewards, in this world and the next, are the greatest benefit of having bitachon- even greater than getting whatever it was you were praying for in the first place.
So keep these two important examples from nature in mind:
When the check is late, think: “I came into the world at the right time, and everything happens at right time.”
And when things are tight and you don’t have any breathing space, think: “I was a nursing baby one time, and I made it through that as well.”
These positive thoughts will not only give you peace of mind, but
ויהיה נשכר על זה
You will get rewarded for it.
Have a great day