Monday, September 22, 2008

Yesterday Is Not An Indication Of Tomorrow

Rosh Hashanah is coming. It's a time to think about what has transpired since last year and what we want out of the coming year.
I commented to my sister how lucky we are. We feel this pressing need for parnassah. And so, as Rosh Hashanah approaches, we prepare ourselves to beg Hashem with every fiber of our being, to beseach Him to bestow parnassah on our family. But in reality, we are no different than any other family.
Someone might have ten million dollars in the bank today, and yet, tomorrow he could be with nothing. Someone could have nothing today and tomorrow he could be the richest man in the world. It doesn't matter what you have until now. Looking at the past can make you have one of two wrong reactions. You can either despair, saying: there is no way in the world that a person like me can be pulled out of the deep pit I am in. Whether it is heavy debts, a fatal illness, or any
other seemingly hopeless situation. You have to realize that yesterday's problems are not an indication of tomorrow. When Hashem wants your yeshua to come to the world, he'll send it. You may have been waiting for years. (In my families case it's about ten years since my father had money.) But your yeshua didn't come because the time was not right. But tomorrow might be the right time. You just have to daven.
On the flip side, there is the people who think they have what they need. They become complacent. There was a case that I remember, when I was such a young girl, that I'm shocked I remember it, but I guess itwas a lesson worth remembering. It was Simchas Torah, many years ago. This lady was really upset about something or other. So one of the other ladies tried to cheer her up by telling her that her husband had recieved chosson beraishis. "So what?" She asked.
"It's a big segulah for parnassah" the other lady answered. "I don't need parnassah," the lady said. "My husband makes plenty of money."
Even as a little kid, I remember being floored. What?! How can anyone say they don't need parnassah? Why does her husband make good money? Only because Hashem gave her the gift of parnassah! While I know most people aren't quite so naive, think about this. All those rich gvirim out there who give millions of dollars to tzedakah- they don't need parnassah any more or less than we do. Yet we are lucky. Hashem made it real for us. We really apreciate the need for parnassah. And our tefillos will surely reflect it.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

can i...forget it. i think after our email conversation, you know what i'm gonna say.

halfshared said...

I remember feeling like that when the whole stock market and banks crashed so shortly before Rosh Hashana this year. I am sure everyone prayed differently because it affected most people in some way. I wonder how that woman is faring...

Desperate Faith said...

halfshared, I was going to add a note that not long after we had this discussion the stock market crased-and proved my point.