emunah, tefillah, a little mussar, and a shmeck of geula

Monday, April 7, 2014

Just For The Asking



Hashem does it all.

As we said in EmunahSpeak: So Who are You Relying on…, The avodah of bitachon is to train oneself to rely only on Hashem.

Not Hashem plus your accountant or your expertise.  Hashem knows if you have bitachon in Him or you are relying on the doctor also or your own hishtadlus.  Hishtadlus doesn’t make you a partner with Hashem.  Think of it as the password to the game of life.  It's the equivalent of saying "swordfish" to gain admittance.  Once you have given the password Hashem takes care of 100% of the problem, not the 95% you supposedly left over for Him after you did your 5%.  That Hashem’s 100% might work out to be zilch, zero, and nada of what we have set our minds on in any given situation is of no consequence because bitachon is not results oriented and therefore makes no promises.  It defines how we think not what we get.

In case anyone blinked while reading the previous paragraph the thrust of it is that we have done nothing; not almost nothing or practically nothing.  But on the other hand, if we do not do that little something that amounts to nothing in terms of the totality of what we would like to accomplish, Hashem doesn’t come into the game (of life).

What we are seeking is Hashem’s gift that comes to us with no strings attached.  And we are only zoche to such beneficence when we have walked the walk that directly connects our effort to Hashem’s gift.

Anything that comes to us despite our deviation from the prescribed route, will either not last, or if it does, it comes with a price that we may never realize that we have paid.  So how does one get from his meager effort (which in any case accomplishes nothing in and of itself) to Hashem’s gift anyway?   
Tefillah and only tefillah binds the knot between the two as if it were some kind of mystical middle man.

Doing your part is essential but by itself it’s no better than a seed that was planted but neither fertilized nor watered.   It won’t sprout and neither will your aspirations come to fruition in the form of Hashem’s gift without tefillah.

You are davening for Hashem’s blessings as needed to turn the little nothings that you have done into something.  And by doing so you are in essence asking Hashem to replicate his creation of the world every time you have a need….just for the asking.