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Daily Chizuk #1249
Weekly Parasha
You Have the Strength: Finding Hope in Chronic Pain
Parashat Chayeh Sarah: Turn the Challenge into Opportunity
Rabbenu Yona writes that the tenth test of Avraham is in this week’s parasha Chayeh Sarah. Avraham was promised that he would be given the Land of Israel and then, when all he needed was just a burial plot for his wife, he couldn’t find one, until he had to pay an exorbitant amount of money for it. Avraham acted as the prince of Hashem that he was known to be and paid all of the money with ease. He did not question Hashem and thus, once again, passed his test. It is the way of great people to be happy to show their love of Hashem and serve Him, in the face of potential questions.
The goal in emunah is to reach a level where we don’t have to fight with ourselves to be able to serve Hashem when it is hard, but rather to be excited to do it.
During the First World War, the Chofetz Chaim once spent Shabbat in a field in the middle of nowhere in order not to violate Shabbat. He said later how happy he was that entire Shabbat to be able to keep it in such a difficult circumstance. Our greats looked at challenges as opportunities to serve Hashem with true love. That is the highest level. And as we mentioned previously, the more times a person does serve Hashem when it is hard, the more he’ll come to love Him and the more he loves Him, the easier it will be to serve Him during those challenging situations.
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbenu Yona writes that the tenth test of Avraham is in this week’s parasha Chayeh Sarah. Avraham was promised that he would be given the Land of Israel and then, when all he needed was just a burial plot for his wife, he couldn’t find one, until he had to pay an exorbitant amount of money for it. Avraham acted as the prince of Hashem that he was known to be and paid all of the money with ease. He did not question Hashem and thus, once again, passed his test. It is the way of great people to be happy to show their love of Hashem and serve Him, in the face of potential questions.
The goal in emunah is to reach a level where we don’t have to fight with ourselves to be able to serve Hashem when it is hard, but rather to be excited to do it.
During the First World War, the Chofetz Chaim once spent Shabbat in a field in the middle of nowhere in order not to violate Shabbat. He said later how happy he was that entire Shabbat to be able to keep it in such a difficult circumstance. Our greats looked at challenges as opportunities to serve Hashem with true love. That is the highest level. And as we mentioned previously, the more times a person does serve Hashem when it is hard, the more he’ll come to love Him and the more he loves Him, the easier it will be to serve Him during those challenging situations.
Shabbat Shalom!
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