People are always looking for different ways to strengthen their Bitachon, and the Chafetz Chaim gives us advice on how to do so. He says that it’s our job is to strengthen our Bitachon. As the pasuk in Mishleh says,
קַוֵּ֥ה לה׳ וְיֹ֣שַֽׁע לָֽךְ׃
Kaveh L’Hashem V’Yoshah Lach/ Put your hope in Hashem has He will deliver you
His advice for strengthening Bitachon as follows:
Go back on your life and constantly contemplate: How many years have you lived until now? How many decades have gone by? And with God's kindness, there wasn't a day that went by (I hope for everyone reading this) that you didn't have food to eat, water to drink, clothing, and a place to live. Baruch Hashem, we're not homeless. That's something to contemplate.
Contemplate the Hessed of Hashem. Hashem tells us that we're supposed to remember the years that we spent in the Midbar, and Rabbenu Yonah says this is not just about the years that we spent in the Midbar. It’s also about the years that we spend in this world, going through life's challenges, and all the scary things that happen. Everyone has their scares, whether medical, financial, or family-related. We’ve all had them, and Baruch Hashem, we've gotten through them. We're still here, and we're still alive.
So, based on my past, why am I worried about tomorrow? We don't know how many more years we're going to live, and we can assume that if He helped us until now, He’ll continue helping us.
We've mentioned before, from the Chatam Sofer, that from time to time a person should look back at his life. As you get older, you begin to see more connections. More things start making sense when you look back on things that, many years ago, looked terrible.
As an example from my own life, I learned in a Yeshiva called Be’er Yaakov, under Rav Wolbe, but within a year of my arrival, Rav Wolbe decided to leave the yeshiva. I was a young boy of 18, and I had I finally met my mentor. It was devastating. I literally cried bitter tears that this Yeshiva, that I loved, was going to come to an end. At the time, I didn't understand it.
Rav Wolbe sent us to a Yeshiva that was under the guidance of a Rabbi Abba Berman. They were old friends from the Mirrer Yeshiva in Europe, and so Rav Wolbe sent us there to hear Rav Abba’s shiurim.
Because of that, two unbelievable things happened in my life, that I never could have planned.
Number one is, the alleyway of this Yeshiva was literally less than six feet from Hacham Ben Sion’s shul, Ohel Rachel. Because of this, I developed a tremendous kesher/connection to Hacham Ben Sion, whom I consider one of my Rabbis. I spent so much time with him- 10 years, because of that move from Be’er Yaakov to Yerushalayim. That's point number one.
Point number two is that my chavruta in Rav Abba Berman was a rabbi named Rav Moshe Wolpin (currently a Rosh Yeshiva in Eretz Yisrael).
When I was 21, I came back to America around Pesach time, looking to get married. Rav Wolpin was also in America, visiting his family. One day he was standing in his father's kitchen, and his father, Rabbi Nisson Wolpin (who was a friend of my father-in-law, Rabbi Nosson Scherman ) asked, “Do you have anyone for Rabbi Nosson Scherman's daughter?” He replied that he knew somebody, and he mentioned me. And I married this wonderful young lady, only because I met this man that I never knew before, all because I changed Yeshivot.
That's just a little dot of an event, that, to me, was devastating, but changed my life for the good. And I did continue my connection with Rav Wolbe, when he moved to Yerushalayim, for another 10 years, as well.
That's what the Chafetz Chaim says we have to do. We have to look back and say, “Well, He took care of me until now, so probably He'll continue taking care of me.” Have a wonderful day.