Episode 221 - Standing By The Menorah, We Explore How Trust Matures From Desperation To Daily Reliance

The glow of a towering Hanukkah menorah lights our conversation as we record steps from the Western Wall in Jerusalem. The sounds of prayer, footfalls, and mic checks become more than ambience—they frame a question many of us avoid until life forces it: do we trust God only when we run out of options, or can trust become the steady rhythm of ordinary days?

We unpack two pivotal levels of Bitachon that reshape how we work, choose, and breathe under pressure. First, we name the foxhole reflex: calling on God when control slips and fear rises. Then we move to a sturdier place where reliance shows up even when we’re capable—trading risky shortcuts for safer, ethical paths because we believe provision doesn’t require danger. Along the way, a wry parking-lot story exposes how quickly we claim credit after rescue, and why gratitude must arrive before need if trust is going to last.

Jerusalem offers a living metaphor. People from every background gather at the Kotel with open hands and honest words, reminding us that faith deepens in community and practice. We challenge the secular habit of hiding God in public and dusting Him off in crisis, and we offer simple, practical steps to rebuild that connection: thankfulness as a daily discipline, humble planning paired with prayer, and a conscious choice to seek safer means without surrendering ambition. If you’ve wondered how to move from emergency prayers to everyday reliance, this conversation gives language, examples, and a path forward—lit by the menorah, grounded by the stones, and carried by hope.

If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs encouragement, and leave a review with the line that stayed with you. Your notes help others find the Trust Factor and join the journey.

Chapters

• 0:16 At The Western Wall
• 1:10 Why People Gather To Pray
• 1:27 Entering The Sixth Level Of Trust
• 2:05 Crisis-Driven Faith And Its Limits
• 5:15 The Parking Spot Parable
• 6:12 The Seventh Level Of Trust
• 7:29 Choosing Safer Paths Through Faith
• 8:02 Resisting Secular Amnesia
• 9:00 A Direct Line From Jerusalem
• 11:01 Connect And Keep Growing

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:16

Hello and welcome to the Trust Factor Podcast, the only podcast that guarantees your success when you implement its divine age old teachings. Today's podcast is coming to you about 50 feet away from the Koto, the Western Wall in Jerusalem, the heart of Jerusalem. You're going to hear some noises in the background. I'm standing pretty close to the menorah every night because it's Hanukkah. They light this beautiful golden menorah that looks like it's probably about six or seven feet tall and maybe about seven or eight feet wide. And it's standing right in front of the Western Wall. So there's a lot of people here. They're doing some mic checks, but we're going to try and get through this podcast from the holiest place and from Hashem's backyard. This is his house, my friends. This is where he resides 24 hours a day, seven days a week. So what better place in the world to give you over ideas about how to connect to him than from being in his house? If you've never been to Jerusalem before, this is the place, my friends. I encourage you. There are people from all walks of life here. People come from all over the world to pray, to connect to a higher power. This is the epicenter of the world for all the major world religions, and people coexist here from all walks of life. We're going to get into the sixth level where one begins to rely on God. Up until now, the first five, he's been relying on his parents, his mother to nurse him, on his father to provide cover, on himself when he thinks he's capable of doing things, and on other people when he thinks that they are going to pay him when they think that he's worthwhile. Now we get into himself. It says, when his perception improves and he observes the inadequacies of people and realizes that even they need assistance of the creator, he will transfer some of his trust to Hashem. But at this early stage of Bitachon of trust, he will rely upon him only in areas where he does not have his own capability. That is, areas where he cannot avoid submitting to the creator's decree. This is what we see amongst a lot of secular people. What he's talking about here is what we talked about a few days ago. No atheists in a foxhole. In the emergency room and in hospitals, that's where you hear God's name being screamed out all day long. People remember God when it becomes difficult, when they can no longer cope on their own. They try, they do as much as they can, they work overtime to try and prove that they're capable, that they're smart, that they're worthy, and they make every effort possible. And when it works, it works. Wonderful. They give themselves all the credit in the world, and it becomes Kohive Otzamiyadi. It becomes me and my strength and my wisdom and my prowess. That's why I'm so successful. But when he hits a brick wall, when he hits a hurdle that he can no longer get over, suddenly he turns to Hashem. Where are you? How come you're not helping me, Hashem? I don't understand. Aren't you supposed to be here? Yeah. But what about all those other times? What about when it was good? What about when you didn't need him? How about then? Did you recognize him then? Most of us, especially in our early days, the answer is no. We didn't. We relied on ourselves and we relied on people around us. Only when it becomes difficult, we start to reach out to Hashem. Now that's not always the case, by the way. That is the case by the vast majority of people because the vast majority of people have that weakness. But there are people who rise above. There are people who don't need to have the difficulties and the challenges and the tribulations that come with life in order to recognize that there is a God that runs this world. That they are able to recognize them earlier on. That when things are good, their automatic response is thank God. When they have a baby, their automatic response is thank God. When they close a big deal, their automatic response is that they may not even be religious. There may not be people who practice Judaism on a regular basis, but they're still connected. Walking in here, you see people putting on a keep up for the first time. Jews, Israelis, that are traditional at best, you know, but when they come in here, they recognize that this is God's house and that God runs the world. They recognize that the rest of the week they're fooling themselves and they think that they're the ones who are in charge. But in reality, they come to a place like this and all that fades away. And they recognize the truth and it's undeniable. That comes with time, though, my friends. So we continue. Thus he will rely on Hashem for things such as rainfall on his sown field, safety when traveling by sea or in waterless deserts, protection from uncoming flood waters, or from an outbreak of a plague amongst living creatures, and similar matters in which a person has no strategy for control in any way. In other words, when you're helpless, or when you're going into uncharted territories, when suddenly there's a fear that comes over you, that you feel that there is no man that can help you, that you feel that the only help that can come has to come from a higher power, then we have absolutely no problem turning to God. But until then, if we've got it, we've got it. You know, it's that classic joke that everybody tells of the guy who's driving through Brooklyn and he's on his way to a meeting, a very important meeting. He's trying to find a parking spot. If he doesn't find this parking spot, he's going to lose a deal of his life that's going to retire him. And he's driving around in circles and he can't find a parking spot. And he finally gets so frustrated, he realizes he's about to lose this deal, it's about to change his life, and he reaches out to Hashem for the first time and he says, Hashem, help, I need your help, I need a parking spot. If I don't get this deal, I'm done. My family's toast. And and just as he's saying that, a car pulls out from in front of him, and what does he do? He looks back up to the heavens and he says, It's okay, God, I got this. Never mind. Erase that. Scrap what I just said. Unfortunately, it's a joke. Sometimes it could be seen as funny, but when we're in that jam, when we're in difficult times, that's when we're quick to reach out. But as soon as we get the salvation, as soon as we get what we need, suddenly we forgot the difficult place that we were in and how he came to our rescue. Let's get into the seventh area. The seventh level, a greater degree of trust in Hashem. It says, if his perception of Hashem and his providence improves further, there's an if there, right? If he grows in his trust in God, he will rely on God even in areas where he could have a bit of strategy and does not feel helpless and desperate. In other words, okay, I'm starting to grow. I recognize I can do this on my own. But you know what? Let me ask for help because he's there and he can make my life easier. He can give me a level of insurance to confirm that I will be successful. For example, if he finds opportunities to earn his livelihood through dangerous means or by engaging in forms of work that are taxing to the body, he will avoid those endeavors due to his trust in Hashem that he will provide him even through means that are easier and safer to engage in. So I may not take the risks that I have to take. I may be a little bit more confident in making decisions that I otherwise would not have made because I recognize that God runs this world and I recognize that I can rely on him. Doesn't necessarily mean that I'm holding on the highest level over here. We've still got a couple more levels to go through. But this individual has come all the way to the point where he's allowed God into his life. He's recognized that there is a place for him, although he doesn't recognize that it's every day, every hour, every second of his entire life, from the morning he's born until the second he dies. Hashem wants to be in his life, and Hashem wants to help him. But the individual has to want that help and he has to want to have a connection and a relationship with his creator. As soon as we do that, he's there for us. He's at a stage right now, number seven, where he's talking about the individual who recognizes, who's making some efforts, but that is always tempered. It's always limited, and you know the reason why. It's because we're living in a secular world. We're living in a society that is godless. We're living in a society that tries to hide God, takes God out of the school systems. They don't talk about God in public forums. God is a second or third idea that they can avoid as long as they can avoid the conversation of God, they will. When do they give you God? They bring God back into your life when God forbid you've hit rock bottom. When you find yourself in a prison cell and your whole life is upside down and you've made a series of bad choices, then the guy comes around with a book cart and he gives you a Bible and says, you know, you might want to try reading this. Where were you 50 years ago? Where were you 30 years ago? How come now? Then you took God away, you pulled him out of the classroom, you made sure that he wasn't a part of my foundation and a part of my growth. Right? And then when I make a series of bad decisions and everything goes awry and I become a liability to society, then you want me to turn back to God. The trick, my friends, is not to fall into the trap placed by society and secularism. Know who runs the world, know that he wants a relationship with you, know that you can always come to his backyard as I am right now. I'm sitting in his house. This is where he is, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and I have a direct line to him right over here. It's the holiest place in the world, my friends. There are people from everywhere here coming to connect back to their creator.

SPEAKER_00: 9:20

More to come from Jerusalem tomorrow.

SPEAKER_01: 11:01

And if you're on social media, connect with us. Leave your thoughts, drop a quote that resonated with you. Hashtag the TrustFactor Podcast. Until next time, keep growing in your trust and keep living with purpose. I'm Jesse Revivo, and this has been the TrustFactor Podcast. Thank you for listening.