The Scriptures reveal that creation is “teleological,” which means that it is “going someplace” and that there is order and purpose to our existence. Your life is not adrift in a random universe that is destined to ultimately fade away but is grounded in the Divine Mind and Will that personally supervises and pervades all things. A lack of emunah (faith) has been likened to a passenger flying on an airplane who doesn’t believe there is a pilot in the cockpit… Faith in the LORD believes that a single supreme, all-knowing, all-powerful and benevolent spiritual Power directs all things, and that God is the beginning, middle, and end of all conscious meaning, truth, and substance, as it is written: כִּי הַכּל מִיָּדוֹ הַכּל בּוֹ וְהַכּל לוֹ הוּא, “For from him and through him and to him are all things” (Rom. 11:36). A life of faith in the one true God imparts the blessing of shalom (inner peace) and assures the heart that all shall be made well by the love of God. Everything God does is for the very best, and there are no exceptions to this truth (Rom. 8:28).
Our faith that everything God does is for the best is not some rationalization that denies or minimizes the suffering we encounter in life, but is an affirmation that there is an unseen (though knowable) good at work that ultimately will heal us and comfort our shattered hearts… The phrase gam zu l’tovah (גַּם זוּ לְטוֹבָה) is an affirmation that “this too is for good,” and that this “this” includes the various challenges and struggles we face during our days of sojourn here on this earth. Every “down” in life prepares us for an “up,” with the ultimate end being beatitude and everlasting joy. Challenges draw us closer to God, igniting our hearts to cry out for his Presence and blessing. Even death itself is a passageway to eternal life (Psalm 16:10; 49:15; 1 Cor. 15:12-58). בַּעֲצָתְךָ תַנְחֵנִי וְאַחַר כָּבוֹד תִּקָּחֵנִי – “You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory” (Psalm 73:24). By faith “we know that if the ‘tent’ that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Cor. 5:1). God is our good Shepherd who leads us along the byways of the desert of this world (Psalm 23:4). In God’s presence is total and absolute joy; at his right hand there are pleasures forever (Psalm 16:11). As it is written in the sacred testimony of the prophets: “No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” (Isa. 64:4; 1 Cor. 2:9). The LORD “will wipe away every tear from our eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Rev. 21:4, Isa. 25:8). God foresees your way and prepares a place for you (John 14:1-3); he has ready a precious white stone with your “hidden” name inscribed (Rev. 2:17); the table is being set and your place has been reserved…
So be encouraged, friend. You do not need to struggle alone – bitter and afraid that you might be swallowed up in your infirmities… God knows the groan of your struggle and invites you to find solace and strength in Him. “It is enough to open your heart the smallest amount – even the width of a pin – to repent, so that you feel a stab within your heart, like a piercing sting in living tissue, not like a needle thrust into dead flesh” (Menachem Mendel of Kotzk). Bittachon (בִּטָּחוֹן) is a Hebrew word that means trust in God… Those who have bittachon do not worry about the future because their faith fully permeates their heart and mind, enabling them to surrender their cares and burdens to the Lord.
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