BS’D
There is a phenomenon called self-belief. A person may live his life certain that He believes in Hashem, nevertheless he really has faith in himself. Let us look at nine questions which we should answer with full honesty in order to discover whether we really trust Hashem or ourselves.
1) The ba’al habitachon (man who trusts in Hashem) has inner tranquility and lives a life of calmness. How much inner composure do you have? Do you often worry or have fears? Are you overly concerned about your livelihood? If we trust in Hashem, we remain peaceful even in the face of uncertainty.
2) Do you look to others to help resolve your hardships and anticipate that they will ‘rescue’ you from your troubles? (Not as messengers but as ‘independent agents’).
3) Are you investing an abundance of hishtadlut (exerted effort) to bring about a yeshua? In other words, do you see the solution to your problems as a product of your intervention or cause-and-effect?
4) Do you get angry easily when things do not go your way? A person with strong emuna is able to let go of his feelings more readily as he knows that it is not within his control and is being directed from above for his eternal best.
5) Where are you in terms of experiencing feelings of jealousy and envy? How is your response when you hear something good occurred is someone else’s life while it is that exact same thing which you majorly lack? This displays an unwillingness to accept Hashem’s just ways together with the feeling that things should be different.
6) Does your ego get in the way? We have nothing of our own. Our intellect, physical features, and everything about us is not ours. They are lent to us on this temporary journey called this world.
7) How is our Torah learning? In spite of those busy times at work, do we make the time to connect spiritually?
8) What is your reaction to paying yeshiva tuition, Shabbat expenses, Yom Tov costs, or supporting a Torah organization or a Torah scholar? Do you give wholeheartedly believing that this is money given to you by Hashem from His ‘own’ personal funding account?
9) How grateful are you to Hashem? Do you see everything, yes everything, in your life as a gift and not earned by you because you ‘worked for it’ and ‘deserve it’?
These are tough questions indeed. Please respond, with or without your name, in the comment and post section at the end. It will be interesting to learn from one another’s answers.
Today’s daily dose is dedicated to the refuah shleimah of Yaakov Tzvi ben Anat. He is a young boy having hernia surgery today. May the malachim guide the hands of the doctors and gift Yaakov Tzvi ben Anat with a complete healing amongst all of Klal Yisrael who are sick and suffering b’karov, b’rachamim, Amen!
