We are now discussing a pasuk in Mishleh (chapter 16, pasuk 20)
מַשְׂכִּיל עַל דָּבָר יִמְצָא טוֹב וּבוֹטֵחַ בַּידֹוָד אַשְׁרָיו
Someone who uses his intelligence is A Maskil (who uses his sechel something) will find good, and one who relies on God Ashrav/ He is fortunate.
Rashi says someone who is paying attention and focusing, and weighing whether he shouldn't or shouldn't do something, will find good, he will make the right decisions.
And one that relies on Hashem means that when he weighs the decision and he comes up with Mitzvah that might be a little bit of a challenge, whether physical or monetary, and yet relies on God and does it, despite it taking a little bit more out of him (a little bit of an expense or a bit of a physical push), if it’s a little hard and he does it anyway, because he is relying on God, that’s going to bring him fortune. That's what Rashi says.
Rabbenu Yonah says, similar
To Rashi in the first half of the pasuk, that before you make any move, you should think about it first. Don't just act impetuously. Think and contemplate before you do anything, whether it's good or bad, and that way, you'll be successful. You'll have a good chance of it coming out the way you wanted, because you thought about it. Most things that are done haphazardly, without preparation and thought, end up bringing a loss.
But, after all of your thinking, ultimately what's going to make it happen is Hashem. And therefore, he says that Shlomo Hamelech is telling us in this pasuk that of course Bitachon is important, but you can't just use Bitachon and say, That's it. I'm diving with Bitachon. You have to think about it, and you have to use your sechel to make the right decisions. And then you rely on Hashem. And even in a situation where it doesn't look like you’ll be matzliach, based on logic, it doesn't seem like you going see success, your bitachon doesn't change.
That person is the fortunate one. What does that mean? We'll use a business example. Somebody has a business and he's thinking through exactly what he should do and how he should spend, and based on all his projections, he should order less this season, or not order at all… he's using his sechel. Based on all his analysis and his projections, he's not going have the same year as last year. So he uses his sechel and he makes intelligent decisions.
But after all that, as Rabbenu Yona says, “The strength of his Bitachon in Hashem doesn't change.” He had to go through all those thoughts and analysis to make the right decision. But now, when he goes into the year, in his mind, he feels as confident as ever that he's going to have the best year possible. How? I don't know. Hashem can make anything happen.
We all know those stories. We have to remember those stories.
There’s one about a man who had a large debt owed to him, and he ended up getting the warehouse full of goods because the person went bankrupt … He had nothing to do with the item, and thought it was a waste and a loss. Then suddenly Corona came and lo and behold, what was the warehouse full of ? Medical masks! The man made a ton when there was a shortage of masks. The details are not important. The facts are not important, but the story is always the happy ending, which is that Hashem can make anything happen, even in the most dire of situations.
And that's how we have to act.
We can't just say, “La Didah, I'm just going go out there and order like last year,” when it doesn't look like you're going to sell like last year. So, of course, use your sechel. But after all this sechel comes in Bote’ach B’Hashem, you rely on Hashem and then Ashrav, then you'll be fortunate. Have a wonderful day.