The Trust Factor
A daily lesson that focuses on achieving unparalleled success in life using ancient wisdom in modern times.
We will be discussing critical concepts as they are laid out in the book Sha'ar Habitachon - The Gate of Trust. Written 1000 years ago, the author reminds us of the values and wisdom that have allowed humanity to thrive throughout history.
The concept of trusting in a higher power that exists purely for our benefit, puts us in the drivers seat with absolute confidence to achieve greatness.
Eliminate: Fear, Hatred, Anxiety, Depression, Jealousy, Greed...forever!
* Note that some terminology will be in the original Hebrew or Aramaic which I will always follow with the English translation.
The Trust Factor
Episode 36 - The Playoff Test: Why Life's Biggest Challenges Bring Greatest Rewards
What if every challenge in your life—from traffic tickets to medical diagnoses—carried the signature of a loving Creator? This profound episode of The Trust Factor explores the sixth criterion of complete trust: recognizing that everything happens under divine control.
We begin by acknowledging how many of us live from Friday to Friday, our weeks blurring together in a rush of activity. Yet for those observing Shabbat, these sacred pauses create beautiful, lasting memories precisely because they slow us down and help us reconnect with what truly matters. This contrast sets the stage for understanding life's deeper patterns.
Rabbeinu Bachya teaches that nothing—absolutely nothing—can occur without God's express approval. This perspective revolutionizes how we view life's difficulties. That business closing, that unexpected bill, that health scare—all bear the signature of the same Creator who loves us infinitely and desires our ultimate success. Rather than blaming external forces or other people, we're invited to look beyond the immediate circumstances to the divine purpose orchestrating events for our growth.
The episode draws a compelling parallel between spiritual tests and championship sports. Just as playoff games command higher prices because they showcase elite competitors facing worthy challenges, our most difficult life moments offer the greatest opportunities for spiritual advancement. According to the effort comes the reward—when we face intense challenges with faith rather than resentment, we position ourselves for immeasurable blessings.
Ready to transform your relationship with life's difficulties? Join us to discover how recognizing divine purpose in every struggle leads to a life without paralyzing fear—where challenges become opportunities and gratitude replaces blame.
Good morning everybody. Welcome to the Trust Factor. Friday morning, finally Friday, even though it comes so quickly. I know, like me, I'm sure you guys also live from Friday to Friday. We're so busy, we're inundated with so many things that challenge us every day, that our weeks fly by and we literally live from Friday to Friday. The good news is that the weekends, especially if you're keeping Shabbat, they are what stays in your mind, because they are beautiful and they are slow, because we are not inundated with a million different things that are trying to distract us that make time fly, so we get to enjoy them and immerse ourselves in Shabbat.
Speaker 0:We are getting back into the sixth criterion of what it is that we need to find in our provider in order for us to be able to put our complete, undivided, unchallenged faith and trust in our provider. We've gone through five previous ones. There are seven in total. We'll finish off, hopefully on Sunday, the seventh one. The sixth one is laid out with some pretty interesting language, but I'll explain it.
Speaker 0:What Rabbeinu Bacha says is that the fortune of the person bestowing his trust is entirely under the control of the provider and no one can harm him or help him, nor bestow good upon him nor protect him from harm. What does that mean? That means that, in order for us to be able to be absolutely confident in our creator, that we don't even have to think for a second whether or not we could put our faith and trust in him is to know with absolute certainty that he runs the world, with absolute certainty that he runs the world, that he is the one in charge and that nothing can happen to us Absolutely nothing good or seemingly bad, nothing can happen to us without his express approval. He has to sign off on it. So if you're driving in your car and you get pulled over by the police and get a ticket guess what Signed off on by God. If you God forbid go to the doctor and he tells you something you don't want to hear, you know who signed off on it. The same God who brought you into this world and who loves you and wants you to succeed. If you have to close your business after operating it for decades and suddenly you have to start fresh or figure out a new way to survive, the same God who loves you and gave you that business and put money in your pocket and filled up your bank account and paid all your bills for decades. It's the same God that took it away from you.
Speaker 0:Now you say why? Why Hashem? I don't understand If you explain it as though there's a separate entity. There's a separate person or the evil inclination or whatever it is that's responsible, but then let me blame them. But what ends up happening is people blame God and they say God, how can you be so cruel, how could you be so wicked, how could you do these things Not recognizing that it is all from a place of love and everything is absolutely perfect? We get to the point where we recognize that everything that happens to us is through him and only through him. Then there's no reason to contemplate anybody else. We don't have to contemplate any other entity, not an evil inclination, and not the police officer, and not the doctor, and not my diet and not all these other things in the world.
Speaker 0:I'm not saying, god forbid, that you shouldn't eat well. That's not what I'm saying that you shouldn't work out and take care of yourself. You have an obligation. We've said this many times. You have an obligation to do for yourself. You need to help yourself and then God will help you.
Speaker 0:But at the end of the day, when you've done the things that you're supposed to do and the doctor still gives you the negative news, or you still have to close the business or whatever it is, you have to look up to Hashem and you have to say thank you, thank you. I've said before the same way that we appreciate a baby that is brought into this life, a new precious being that's brought into this life, the same way we say thank you and we feel so much gratitude is literally the Torah tells us the same way that we need to be grateful when somebody leaves this world. Could you imagine I mean, that is probably the hardest concept to get your head around. But really, if you understand that this world is a temporary place, it's just a hallway, it's just a means to an end. It's not an end in and of itself. This world is just a temporary stay. It's designed to be able to allow us to achieve our goals and to be able to build our Olam Chabah, our next world. But while we're here, we have to make those efforts. It's incumbent upon us. You want his help, he's ready to help, but you have to do the work yourself. You have to show up and demonstrate that you're willing to do the work. Once you've demonstrated that, then he's all in. But at the same time, he has an obligation to test us, to make sure that we're in this for the right reasons, to make sure that we acknowledge who's really pulling the strings over here, and the way that he does that is by utilizing other people that he has in this world.
Speaker 0:God has people in this world who are very undeserving and you wonder how come there's so many miserable people in this world. And the reason is he needs to keep a lot of them here. And the reason he keeps them here is because he needs them to do his dirty work. He needs them to be able to berate you on the street. You're doing his work, he loves you, you've got everything good coming in store. You're walking down the street and somebody comes out of the blue and starts berating you. It starts blaming you for all kinds of different things, or maybe even picks a fight with you, whatever it is. And you wonder who is this person? Where'd they come from, from? He needs a police officer to pull you over and make sure that he got you at the one time that you did the one thing that you did wrong, or whatever it may be. He's there. He needs people to be able to deliver bad news. He needs people to be able to wield the stick. Obviously, he's not physical, but he needs individuals to be able to do some of that work. So he keeps them here.
Speaker 0:But when we look at those people and we start to blame them, we start to get upset with the police officer, we start to get upset at the person behind the counter, we start to get upset with the bank manager, we start to get upset with our employees or whatever it is. It's foolish, it's ridiculous. Why? Because nothing can happen to you in this world without the express consent of the same creator who loves you infinitely and wants to see you succeed infinitely and only brought you in this world in order for you to be happy and for him to give to you and for you to receive goodness. So what is it with these challenges? It's very simple.
Speaker 0:If there was a basketball game tomorrow and you were going to see it, or you were offered tickets and the tickets were $100 a seat, and you say who's playing? Oh, that's easy, it's the Toronto Raptors. Who are they playing against? Nobody. What they're playing against nobody. What do you mean? Yeah, they're running up and down the court and they're doing really fancy basketball work. They're slamming, they're dunking, they're doing all kinds of fancy stuff, right? $100 a ticket? You know what? Keep your ticket, I'm not interested. Why do I need to go and see the Toronto Raptors playing against the Toronto Raptors?
Speaker 0:Why do I think that as we get through regular season and we get into the playoffs, suddenly ticket prices start to double and triple and quadruple? Right? And why do you think very few people on planet earth can afford to be able to buy Superbowl tickets? Because they are astronomically priced? Why? Because, as you get to the playoffs, the only ones who are left are the best of the best, the ones that you played throughout the regular season. They were okay, they were a bit of a challenge, but not the biggest challenge in the world.
Speaker 0:You got through them. That's like life God sends you tests and many of them are simple and far and few between, and you can get them with very little effort. But when you get to the playoffs, the people who are challenging each other, the people facing each other in the playoffs, they're the best of the best. They're the guys who made it through and destroyed everybody along the way. So now you know that you're going to see a really good matchup. It's going to be intense. You've got the best players in the league are going after each other. It promises to be a really good game.
Speaker 0:Score is not going to be, you know, if you're talking basketball, it's not going to be 100 to 10, right. It's going to be 98 to 99, right. There's a one point difference. And when you get to the Super Bowl, it's the best of the best of the best, and those prices are astronomical. Why? Because that's where the money is, that's where the excitement is, that's where the purpose is, that's where your opportunity comes to really shine, right?
Speaker 0:That is the same thing with the evil inclination. That's how he works. He tests you. Hashem sends him to test you. He says look, I love this person and I want to see them tested. I want to see them challenged because I want to see them overcome and I want to see them come out the other side happy and content and recognize who sent that test and be grateful for the test. Because that's how you build resilience, that's how you build strength.
Speaker 0:And so when you're living your life and things are quiet and calm and you have a small test here and there or whatever. Yeah, you'll win, yeah you'll do okay. But you know what we say. We say according to the effort, according to how much you toil, how difficult the challenge is. Then comes the reward, and that reward is commensurate with the effort that you put in. So if the effort is far and few between, but it still gets you over your hurdle, you'll get a small reward for it.
Speaker 0:But if it's the Super Bowl and if you're facing the biggest challenges and many challenges at the exact same time and you get through it, you know what's waiting for you on the other side Tremendous, incalculable, unfathomable reward. That's don't come from individuals, they don't come from human beings, they don't come from police officers, judges, lawyers, the tax men. They are simply puppets in Hashem's hands. They are the messengers of the test, and when we blame them and when we attack them and get mad at them, then we've lost, we've failed in the test.
Speaker 0:When we accept with absolute silence and we look up to a shame and say thank you, I recognize this is coming for you and I recognize it's for my own good. I'm going to get through it and I can't wait to see what's on the other side, because I know you love me and I know you want me to succeed, and this is all part of it. Then nothing phases you. No fear, no worry, my friends. That is the way to live in this world. I wish you all a spectacular Shabbat and we will speak again on Sunday. God willing, have an amazing Shabbat.
