Episode 222 - I Tried Arguing With A Flat Tire; God Laughed

A single shift in perception can change the way you work, relate, and breathe. From our perch in Jerusalem, we unpack what it really means to choose a relationship with God—not as robots or out of guilt, but as people who want a living bond that reshapes our days. The conversation bridges ancient wisdom with modern life, showing how faith cuts through anxiety, envy, and the urge to control every outcome.

We walk through the eighth and ninth levels of trust and apply them where it counts: livelihood and inner contentment. Work becomes service rather than desperation. Effort stays, panic goes. When we trust that provision flows through many channels, we still build skills and show up, but the clutching stops. Then we move to radical contentment, the kind that unhooks you from constant comparison. If God’s compassion drives what we receive and what we lack, jealousy loses steam and gratitude gains power. That clarity doesn’t dull ambition; it sharpens purpose.

You’ll also hear a real-life test: a rental car flat tire in a maze of bureaucracy. It’s a small story with a big lesson—step back, breathe, and act calmly. Results followed, but more importantly, peace arrived first. Along the way we challenge the idea that commandments exist for God’s sake. Like a parent insisting on veggies, the practices are built for our growth. When we act from desire instead of obligation, spiritual life stops feeling heavy and starts feeling like nourishment. If you’re ready to trade force for trust, and resentment for grounded effort, you’ll find practical tools and a clear path here.

Subscribe for more conversations that help you practice trust, share this with a friend who needs calm today, and leave a review to tell us where you most want to apply these ideas next.

Chapters

• 0:17 Season Update From Jerusalem
• 1:07 The If Of Real Relationship
• 2:26 Mitzvot As Self-Benefit Not Obligation
• 4:15 Eighth Level: Trust And Livelihood
• 7:17 Ninth Level: Radical Contentment
• 9:50 A Flat Tire And A Test Of Faith
• 12:31 Practical Tools For Daily Trust
• 12:31 Closing Gratitude And Community Call

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:17

Hello and welcome to the Trust Factor Podcast, the only podcast that guarantees your success when you implement its divine age old teachings. Another episode coming to you from Jerusalem in the heart of the city, steps from the old city. We're continuing on and we're getting close to finishing up, my friends. So the end of season one of the Trust Factor Podcast is going to happen, God willing, in Israel. And on the heels of that, we will hopefully get started with season two, also from Israel, potentially from Jerusalem, and potentially from a headquarters that is yet to be disclosed. Working on it could be a good one. If it all pans out nicely the way I hope it will, then it promises to be an amazing beginning to season two of the Trust Factor podcast. We are right now finishing off the different levels of trust that somebody has in their creator. I want you to notice something that I've picked up on over here. I don't know if you have, but these next five, so far we've covered, I think, six and seven. We've got to do eight, nine, and ten, but all of them you'll notice what I pointed out yesterday, there is an if, meaning to say that none of these things are guaranteed. And following the if, it says if his perception, if the individual that we're talking about, meaning you and I, if our perception changes, if we take initiative, if we determine that we want to have a relationship with our creator, only then will it happen. It doesn't matter how much he wants to have a relationship with us. It really doesn't matter. Because he doesn't want robots and he doesn't want to force a relationship that isn't a natural relationship. Just like we shouldn't force unnatural relationships. If you're not intended to have a relationship with an individual, they're resisting you, they're pushing away from you, and you try to force that relationship unnaturally, then I can guarantee you, and those of you who know who've done this know, that you will fail in that relationship. It will not be a positive one. It will be one that will be toxic and that will tear you down. Those are unnatural relationships. A real relationship that is built on confidence and that is lasting is one that is bi-directional. Means I do for you and you do for me, not out of a sense of commitment, not out of a sense of obligation, but out of a sense of desire. Meaning I need to want to do for you. It needs to be a natural human response. When somebody does for you, the common decent thing to want to do is reciprocate. You've done for me, you had no obligation to do for me. So I feel that I need to respond in kind. Now that's not always the case, and you're in a relationship of give and take, and it's a long-standing relationship, you're not keeping score. That's not the idea that I'm trying to get across here. But your natural tendency should want to be to recognize whoa, this person just keeps doing for me. I need to reciprocate, I need to do back. Now, when it comes to God, there's no reciprocating. In other words, we can't do for him what he can't do for himself. He doesn't need us to do any of the commandments, any of the mitzvahs, any of the deeds that he tells us in the Torah to do. He tells us to do them, but it's not for him. He doesn't need us to do them for him. He's complete by definition, he's God. He lacks nothing. Those who lack are us. We're the ones who are deficient. And the mitzvah, the commandments, the deeds that he's told us to do are for our benefit, not for his benefit. Again, he doesn't need us. It's similar to a child. And a parent, a parent tells a child to eat their veggies. He gives them a plate with protein and veggies and constantly makes sure that the child eats the veggies. Why? The child thinks the parent is just losing their mind. Why are they so hung up on these veggies? I'm going to do my parent a favor and eat the veggies, as if they're doing it for us. But in reality, we know that they're not doing it for us. They're doing it for them. They need to eat a balanced diet, and veggies are important. We can't instill that in them because they don't understand it. They're limited by their age and by time and space, and therefore they don't understand what we're trying to get across and the importance of eating your veggies. We understand it because we've been around longer. It's the same thing. God tells you do these things, do them, and you'll benefit. Not that he'll benefit, we'll benefit from them. But because he loves us, just like we love our children, and we tell them, please eat your veggies because we love you and we want to see you succeed and we want to see you healthy and we want to see you thriving. It's the same thing. God says, I love you infinitely. So do these mitzvahs, do these commandments. When you do these, then you will win and you will succeed and you will be happy and you will be content and you will be rid of all the negative traits, the anxiety, the depression, the hatred, the jealousy, will all be gone. And you will be the best version of yourself in this world, and then God will be happy. You understand? That's how it works. But we go back to what I started with. If your perception changes, it starts and stops with you. He doesn't want a robot, he doesn't want somebody he can program to say, now we're in a relationship. He wants it to be one that you recognize what he's doing for you. And eventually you come to recognize that it's time for you to do for him. But the beautiful part is that you're not doing for him. In doing for him, you're doing for you. That's how beautiful this religion is. That's the love that he set up in this relationship to say, I love you so much that even what I'm going to reward you for doing these deeds, I'm rewarding you for doing deeds that they in and of themselves are enough of a reward for you. But because you've done them and you need incentive to do them, I'm going to give you additional reward. Spectacular. Bottom line, spectacular. The eighth level, an even higher degree of trust in God, again, if his perception of Hashem and His providence becomes even stronger, he will transfer his trust to God regarding all the means for earning a living and will know that God is the one providing for him. Whether his means are difficult or easy. And when he's engaged in those means, he will have in mind that he is applying effort for the sake of serving Hashem and heeding his commandments. In other words, I'm going to work today, not because I need to earn a living, but because God told me I need to go to work, I need to be productive, I need to live off of my efforts. He's told me that, therefore, it's a commandment, therefore I need to go out and earn. Doesn't matter what I do, it just matters that I go out and do. I'm doing it because Hashem told me to do these things. The ninth level of trust, when his perception of Hashem's divine attributes increase even more, such that he gains a deep appreciation of the Creator's compassion for his creations, he will be content with his speech, in his public conduct, and in his private feelings. He will rejoice in whatever Hashem has arranged for him. With regards to death and life, poverty and wealth, health and illness, he will not yearn for anything other than what Hashem has chosen for him, and he will not want anything other than what he wants for him. What does that mean? Jealousy out the window. Hatred, fear out the window. Why? Because most of the things that bother us are the things that we don't have, that we think we need, that we think we deserve, that we think are the things that are going to set us apart from everybody else. Those are the things that bother us. And guys, I'm guilty as charged. We're all there to varying degrees. These are the things, these are the emotions that get in the way of us being the best versions of who we can be. How do we get rid of these things? By recognizing that God runs the world and recognizing more than that, more than the fact that he runs the world, but that his compassion for his creation, that his love for us is the only thing that drives him. This is the creator of the universe, of everything that ever was, is, or will be. This is the God that runs every single one of the trillions of cells in your body, the hundreds of kilometers of veins and arteries of arterial networks that are pumping regularly. Your heart is pumping, your eyes are seeing, your ears are hearing, the galaxies are moving, doing their thing, everything is functioning perfectly for what? Specifically for you, and only you to be able to achieve greatness. Imagine all of that just for you. Can't even begin to fathom this concept. But that's what it is. And when somebody comes to recognize that that's how God runs the world, he's constantly sitting and thinking to himself, what can I do for my beloved child to make them happier and better and stronger and successful and all these different things? That's all he's concerned with? Then what am I worried about? What do I have to fear? What do I have to be jealous about? What do I have to be upset about? Absolutely nothing. Now it's very difficult because we've been conditioned by a society to operate the exact 180-degree reciprocal, the exact opposite of that. We are in charge. If we don't step up, then things will get difficult. And I'll tell you just a small example. I work on myself every day. I'll give you one today. I had a rental car from a rental car company and had a flat tire. Never mind the debacle and the disaster of trying to deal with the bureaucracy of Israeli corporations. Very, very difficult. And I'm talking about a very well-known car rental agency, a complete disaster. Finally, I got them to agree to fix the tire. I had to take it today. It took me probably four hours in Jerusalem. What should have been a five-minute drive was easily a 45-minute drive. And what should have been a five-minute fix turned into a couple hour fix. It was just a very, very big challenge. And all I found myself doing was battling inside to say, do I step up and do what everybody else is doing and get in your face and make a lot of noise and wave your arms and raise your voice and do all these do these things to try and take back control and focus the attention on me? Or do I sit back and read from the book that I'm giving a podcast about untrust in God and remember that if he wants it to be in five minutes, it will be in five minutes. And if he wants it to be in five hours, it will be in five hours. But it depends on me, not on him. And it depends on my response. And that's exactly what I did. I pulled back, I calmed myself, I started to read and I started to smile and I started to recognize and remember that God runs this world and I don't have to step up and do something that is going to be inconsequential, anyways, to step up and get in people's faces and ruin not only their day, but my day also. Just because everybody's doing it, I don't need to do it. I need to rise above, and that's what I did. And within maybe 20 minutes of me starting to read and relaxing and just not even addressing the situation and just waiting for it to happen, all the attention turned towards me and everything fell into place. I'm not giving this story over in order to pump my chest, but I'm giving it over as an illustration of the things that we deal with on a day-to-day basis. Mine was just but one example. We all deal with many of these throughout the day. The idea is keep a copy of the book, put it in your pocket. And if it's not this book, make it another similar book that talks about trust in Amuna, about trust and faith in Hashem. And when you find yourself in a pickle, when you find yourself in a difficult situation, crack the book. Smile. Put that smile on your face because the physical, the outwardly physical, reflects the internal. So put that smile on your face. Look up to Hashem and say, okay, I got it. Now's my time to be tested. I'm going to pass that test and start reading from the beautiful ideas of somebody like Khovot Alavot. Thank you for spending time with us on the Trust Factor Podcast. If you've heard something today that moved you, save this episode and share it with someone who might need to hear it. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss upcoming conversations that challenge, empower, and uplift. 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 Reveal, and this has been the trust.