Hashgachah Pratit (Divine providence) shows us that Hashem is here. It does not make Hashem clear. A lot of times, when we see a few stories that have worked, we think, “Wow, the world makes sense. Everything is clear. I got it.” Like, it worked out: I lost a job and got another job. The world is clear. I was dating someone; it didn’t work out. Then someone else, it did work out. Boom! The world is clear.
And we love the fact that life is clear. We love the fact that the world is fair. We love the fact that when good people get rewarded and bad people get punished, and when we see that, we’re like, “Oh, the world is a good place, the world makes sense, and everything is good.” That is a mistake. Hashgachah Pratit stories are true. But what they tell us in these true stories is just the fact that Hashem is here. That does not make the world or Hashem clear. Sometimes Hashem makes it work perfectly, and sometimes you have no idea what Hashem is doing. So it’s not a conflict. It’s not a contradiction. Hashem never promised that you’re going to understand life. Hashem never promised that you’re going to understand the world. Hashem never promised that you’re going to understand everything that happens in your life or His life or your heart life. All we know is that you’re going to see Hashem’s presence.
In many cases, sadly, we’ve gone to many shiva (seven-day mourning period) houses for tragic stories, and in many cases, they have some way of seeing Hashem right there. And what do you mean, you saw Hashem right there? If Hashem was really here, if everything made sense, your kid would be alive. What do you mean, Hashem’s right here? The answer is that they somehow saw Hashem’s presence. That doesn’t mean life is clear. When you try to use those stories to clarify life and make life make sense, you become very frustrated, and you’re literally walking in the world blind. In your pursuit of clarity, you’re achieving blindness. But if instead you just live blind—you live this way, where nothing is clear—it’s not supposed to be clear. I live with the fact that Hashem is here, Hashem is in my world, Hashem is in my life, and Hashem is in charge. Then, if that’s your attitude and that’s your perspective, now you can see. That doesn’t mean you understand everything. But now you can take everything in your life and use it. Oh, there’s a chair here. I could sit on it. Oh, there’s a table here. I could eat on it. Oh, something good happened. I could use it. Oh, something difficult happened. How do I catapult from it? It’s just that He’s clear. It’s just that He’s here. It’s not supposed to be clear. And when you try to make it clear, you get very frustrated.
And I’ve said this many times in classes. There are so many people who get disillusioned with Torah because of the expectations that were created and the clarity they expected because of a few good stories. So they heard a few good stories where everything worked out, and they say, “One second, why didn’t it work out for me? My friend said Shir Hashirim in 40 days and got engaged on the 40th day. Me, I said Shir Hashirim for 180 days, and I’m still home alone. What happened to the clear?” When you’re expecting clear, you will be frustrated. When you’re expecting clear, you will be disillusioned. When you’re expecting clear, you will literally feel like you’re bumping into things because nothing’s going to make sense. But when you give up on trying to be clear, and you’re not trying to make it make sense, and you’re not trying to necessarily understand the past, and you’re not trying to predict the future, you’re just living in His Word: He is here. That’s a nice tune. Hashem is just simply here. If He’s here, life becomes easier to function. Because you say, “Okay, this is something good that happened to me today. What does Hashem want me to do with this? This is something I have to see what it is, and then I’m going to figure out what Hashem wants me to do with this. This is something difficult that happened to me today. What does Hashem want me to do with this?” Instead of trying to understand it and instead of trying to be clear about it, you just try to use it. Life is a much easier experience. You literally could see.